The Avalanche are starting to get healthy.
Matt Calvert will play Wednesday in Toronto and coach Jared Bednar told reporters after the morning skate there is a good chance Gabriel Landeskog and Andre Burakovsky will be in the lineup Thursday in Montreal.
And, yes, Mikko Rantanen will play against the Maple Leafs after sitting out the third period last Saturday. He didn’t practice Monday and the Avalanche traveled Tuesday.
But Vladislav Kamenev is ill and won’t play.
Philipp Grubauer will start in goal.
This will be Nazem Kadri’s second game against the Leafs and his first in Toronto since the Avalanche acquired him July 1 with Calle Rosen and a third-round pick in the 2020 NHL draft for Tyson Barrie, Alexander Kerfoot and a sixth-round pick in 2020.
"It's a little different even walking out to the ice from the visiting side," Kadri told reporters. "I got a little lost, almost needed a map or something. I'm trying not to think too much about it. Part of me wants it over and done with and part of me wants to just enjoy the moment because I've worked hard for it.…
Kadri had two assists in the Avalanche’s 5-3 loss to the Leafs on Nov. 23 at the Pepsi Center. Rosen was playing for the Colorado Eagles at the time. Barrie had a goal and an assist, and Kerfoot was given a minor boarding penalty for his hit against Erik Johnson, who hasn’t played since because of a lower-body injury. Kerfoot received a two-game suspension two days later from the NHL Safety Department, which he has since served.
Calvert missed six games with a concussion he sustained Nov. 16 against Vancouver after getting hit on the head with a puck shot by Elias Pettersson. He needed six stitches to close a gash behind his right ear.
Landeskog will miss his 16th game with a lower-body injury, Burakovsky his third with an upper-body injury.
Projected lineup:
FORWARDS Joonas Donskoi -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Matt Nieto -- Nazem Kadri -- J.T. Compher Valeri Nichushkin -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Logan O'Connor Matt Calvert -- Tyson Jost -- T.J. Tynan
DEFENSE Ryan Graves -- Cale Makar Nikita Zadorov -- Samuel Girard Calle Rosen -- Ian Cole
GOALIES Philipp Grubauer Pavel Francouz