The Colorado Avalanche have a few more days before they take the ice against the Vegas Golden Knights to start their next postseason series. One of the players who could be out, though we are still waiting for confirmation, is defenseman Cale Makar.
Makar injured his shoulder in the series-clinching win against the Minnesota Wild. Though he played 25:50 in the whole game, it was clear that his shoulder was bugging him. In all, he played 29 shifts.
Still, head coach Jared Bednar expects everyone to be on the ice by the time the series begins.
The Avalanche have had times during the season in which they had to switch up some lines to accomodate for injuries. Makar missed seven total regular season games, and Gabriel Landeskog missed 22 games with various injuries throughout the season.
That’s where guys such as Jack Drury, Joel Kiviranta, and Sam Malinski come into mind as guys who can come in and contribute when asked. Well, Drury played in all 82 games, scoring 10 goals and recording 17 assists. That’s not bad for a guy in his shoes, which is on the fourth line.
Artturi Lehkonen and Sam Malinski missed the last two games against the Wild.
There was a good update at Avs skate today, but it was also mixed with some disappointment.
Josh Manson and Sam Malinski are on the ice for full practice in regular jerseys.
— Evan Rawal (@evanrawal) May 17, 2026
No Makar, Burns, and Lehkonen again. https://t.co/YKc2PypiJ5
Having two defenders back is good especially with the fact that Makar wasn’t available to practice. In reality, you probably need like five different defenders to make up for the absence of their star defenseman. That just isn’t going to happen, though. The best thing that the Avalanche can do is let Makar take as much time as he needs to recover from his injury.
In the end, Game 1 isn’t goint to make or break the series. If Makar needed a little bit more time to get healthy, this would be a lot better of a time than a Game 3 or 4. While having him for the first game of the series would be great, Bednar will hold Makar out if he needs more time.
Whether Makar is ready to go or not, the Avalanche need to get off to a fast start against the Golden Knights. Taking control of the first game would go a long way in taking total control of the series. That means guys like Nathan MacKinnon and Nazem Kadri better get on the score sheet. While a score by anyone is great, having it be your top players can put a jolt of energy into the players’ veins.
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