The Colorado Avalanche got a bit of unwelcome news on Thursday. The latest Avalanche injury update shows that forward Ross Colton has been listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette reported the Avalanche injury update. In particular, Colton’s status for Friday night’s game against the Nashville Predators is in question.
Coach Jared Bednar was not sure about Colton’s availability for Friday night. Still, it remains to be seen if he’ll be well enough to suit up against the Predators.
Ross Colton is day to day with an upper body injury. “Don’t know” if he’ll be able to play tomorrow just yet.
— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) January 15, 2026
Asked Bednar what his level of confidence that we’ll see Logan O’Connor this season is, his answer:
“I would say it’s high. I’m still optimistic there.”
Colton likely sustained the injury in Monday night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, it’s unclear when the injury occurred. Perhaps it’s something Colton has been dealing with, but it just became exacerbated during the Avalanche’s last game.
Colton has been playing in the Avalanche’s top six. So, if he can’t go, it’s likely that Victor Olofsson could get the nod on the second line with Brock Nelson and Valeri Nichushkin.
As for the update on Logan O’Connor, it’s great to hear the penalty kill specialist could be back soon. While the Avalanche lead the NHL in penalty kill rate, adding O’Connor would be a major boost. He could easily give the club a jolt in the middle six.
O’Connor’s return would be an interesting situation as the Avalanche could be looking to add depth in the bottom six. Getting O’Connor back could minimize the need for a depth forward. There’s no firm timeline for O’Connor’s return. Nevertheless, the Olympic break would give the recovering forward about another month to get back into game shape. Perhaps he might be ready to get into game action at some point in March.
In the meantime, the Avalanche recalled Zakhar Bardakov from the Colorado Eagles. Sending him down this week was pretty much a paper move aimed at providing some cap relief. Bardakov should line up on the fourth line on Friday night.