The Colorado Avalanche are preparing for a road trip, but they are going to be a few players short.
When the team faces the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils, they will be without three forwards who will have to watch the games from Denver.
Nicolas Roy, Zachary L’Heureux and Logan O’Connor will all be absent on the two-game trip, according to Aarif Deen of Colorado Hockey Now.
This is not exactly the news the team needs right now. Colorado has been navigating with 11 forwards and seven defensemen through many of the games early this season.
Despite the early-season injuries, the Avalanche have remained competitive. These injuries will keep the team waiting a little longer for the forward depth to return to full strength.
Nicolas Roy and Zachary L’Heureux Remain Out
Roy has a lower-body injury that has kept him out of Colorado’s last two games.
He had started the season off strong with two goals and four points in six appearances. Now, the team is facing the challenge of replacing that production.
L’Heureux is dealing with an upper-body injury that has interrupted his first season with the Avs.
He’s just 23 but has appeared in three games where he earned an assist, six shots and a fighting major.
He missed the first two games of the season with the same injury, and after making a brief appearance, has now missed three more games.
Both forwards are listed as day-to-day on the official report, although Deen indicated coach Jared Bednar seemed to indicate the situations were a little more complicated than day-to-day suggests.
Given that they are both going to miss the road trip, their next opportunity to take the ice will be Friday, October 23, when Colorado takes on the Tampa Bay Lightning at home in Ball Arena.
The team has not indicated that either will be making a comeback, as the Avalanche will need to evaluate their progress before making any decisions.
Logan O’Connor Could Return Soon
Thankfully, O’Connor’s situation is different.
The veteran forward has yet to take the ice this season due to a lower-body injury and then took personal leave due to the tragic sudden loss of his father, Myles O’Connor.
He has since returned to practice and is now reportedly healthy enough to play.
The issue now is that he was placed on the long-term injured reserve list retroactive to the beginning of the season. That move created the salary-cap flexibility to recall Gavin Brindley.
Under NHL rules, a player placed on long-term injured reserve must miss at least 10 games and 24 days.
O’Connor, although healthy enough to play, has to live out these requirements before he can return to the ice on a game day.
Friday’s home game against Tampa Bay should be the first time he would be eligible.
His return would provide a boost to Colorado’s penalty killing and bottom-six forward group.
Avalanche Must Adjust
Even with these injuries, the Avalanche have continued to produce offense. The absence of Roy, L’Heureux and O’Connor has left Colorado with fewer options and a bit of a challenge managing ice time.
It is early in the season and probably the best time to have these challenges (if there is a good time). Each of the injured players has a different set of talents; having them back will add the depth that a Stanley Cup-contending team needs.
For now, Bednar will continue the juggling act of working with the available forwards he has and allowing the others the time they need to recover.
The encouraging news is that O’Connor should be able to join the team soon.
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