A Healthy Josh Manson Ready To Make A Difference For Avalanche In Playoffs (+)

The Colorado Avalanche really missed Josh Manson in the playoffs last season.

Well, technically he was there, but that wasn’t the Manson everyone was used to seeing.

“I wasn’t 100% even going in when I came back,” Manson told Colorado Hockey Now this morning ahead of Game One.

Not that that’s a huge surprise. Anyone who watched the games could tell.

Manson worked hard towards the end of the season last year just give it a shot when the playoffs rolled around. He gave it the old college try, but he clearly wasn’t himself, and halfway through Game Five, he shut it down. The injury didn’t allow him to play his style of hockey, and his skating wasn’t at the level it needed to be. Whenever the Kraken would dump the puck in, you could tell that Manson was struggling to transition back to get the puck.

That’s not the case this season. He’s healthy, and his team believes he can make an impact.