Adrian Dater
When Nathan MacKinnon took to the ice before practice this morning, in a blue, regular jersey, hopes immediately soared that he’d make his return from injury Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning at Ball Arena.
Not so fast.
Sunday is a more realistic date for No. 29’s return from a broken nose and concussion, Avs coach Jared Bednar said.
“We wanted to give him the time through the break to make sure he was feeling good, so when he came out of the break he can start ramping up to play. We got into the break, then kind of started to target Sunday for his return date,” Bednar said. “Everything’s going to have to go smoothly and he’s going to have to make the right steps the next few days in order to be ready to go. We were hoping it could be Tampa on Thursday, but as we got into the break, we thought he might need a little more time.”
Valeri Nichushkin will continue to take MacKinnon’s spot on the top line, with Gabe Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen.
MacKinnon did not formally practice with the team today. He left the ice before the regulars arrived, after skating and shooting pucks for about a half-hour. He was wearing a regular face shield, not a bigger one as I first thought.
NOTEBOOK: Darren Helm returned to practice in a regular jersey. He could return Thursday night. “I think he’s going to be good to go,” Bednar said. “We’ll see how the next couple of days go, but he should be an option for Thursday.” … Jacob MacDonald also took part in practice, in a red non-contact jersey. “He’s making progress,” Bednar said. “It’s slow, but it’s steady. He feels real good about where he’s at.” …. Pavel Francouz missed practice because of travel delays into Denver. He is expected to be on the ice Wednesday. … Asked about the status of Bo Byram (personal leave), Bednar said this: “No update. The organization is in communication with him but I haven’t spoken with him besides trying to exchange a couple of texts. But we really don’t have an update or timeline on him.”