Deen’s Daily: An Update on the Avalanche’s Injuries; Two Trades in One Day

Jared Bednar provided an update on the recent stretch of injuries that have taken out four Avalanche skaters in a week.

It’s already known that Jonathan Drouin is out week-to-week. He last played on Nov. 23 in a 7-4 victory over the Florida Panthers where he scored Colorado’s first two goals — his only tallies of the season.

But Bednar said on Saturday that defenseman Oliver Kylington is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and defenseman Josh Manson, who left Friday’s game with an upper-body injury, is week-to-week. The worst update came for Miles Wood. The forward is out month-to-month, meaning the Avs will be without him long-term. Colorado is also missing Ross Colton. The forward broke his foot nearly five weeks ago and at the time was expected to miss 6-8 weeks. He could return sometime in December if his recovery is still on schedule.

Gabriel Landeskog is of course the last injury absence. As usual, there isn’t an update on the status of the captain.

Back-to-back losses: The Avs suffered another loss on Saturday, falling 4-1 to the Edmonton Oilers at Ball Arena. Colorado scored the first goal but the lead only lasted four minutes. After the Oilers eventually built a 2-1 lead, they scored early in the third to go up by two and shut things down the rest of the way. The Avs then surrendered an empty netter to fall to 13-12-0 on the season.

Nathan MacKinnon is in a rut, producing just three assists in his last seven games.

Scott Wedgewood: The Avs made a notable goaltending trade early Saturday morning. They shipped backup goalie Justus Annunen and a sixth-round draft pick to Nashville for veteran goalie Scott Wedgewood. Wedgewood, 32, is under contract for the remainder of this season and 2025-26 at $1.5 million per season. He makes $625,000 more than Annunen — the Avs’ third-round selection in the 2018 entry draft.

The Avalanche’s new goalie will likely get a lot of playing time in December as Colorado is set to begin a stretch of 11 games in 20 nights on Tuesday — most of which will be played on the road. Wedgewood backed up Alexandar Georgiev on Saturday but met with media before the game upon his arrival to Denver. It’s safe to say the Canadian netminder is beyond excited to be a member of the Colorado Avalanche.

Around the NHL

David Juricek: The far more notable trade on Saturday came later in the afternoon. The Minnesota Wild acquired young defenseman David Juricek from the Columbus Blue Jackets for four draft picks and a prospect. Juricek was selected No. 6 overall in 2022 and oozes potential as a top blueliner. But his time in Columbus ended before it really ever began because the team and player couldn’t seem to get on the same page on how he should be developed.

The trade was made by general manager Don Waddell, who took over hockey operations duties this past summer. He wasn’t the GM at the helm when Juricek was drafted and gained a bevy of assets in return for the disgruntled prospect.

New Jersey Hockey Now: The Devils lost 6-5 to the Washington Capitals, who are still without Alex Ovechkin. New Jersey was one of the hottest teams in the league to start the season but has struggled in recent weeks, especially at home. In Saturday’s loss, an old bad habit found its way back into the Devils’ play. One that happened a league-leading 53 times last season.

Montreal Hockey Now: What an absolute barn burner of a game between the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers earlier in the afternoon. It had everything. Drama coming into the game, a marathon of a fight, after-the-whistle scrums, and a comeback attempt that fell short late in regulation. Catch the full recap here from our team at Montreal Hockey Now.