The Avalanche will be without second-line center Nazem Kadri for an indefinite period because of a lower-body injury he sustained Sunday in Minnesota.
Not a good thing, obviously, as they open a five-game homestand Tuesday against Ottawa.
“We’ll just keep reevaluating him, but he’s going to miss some time here,… coach Jared Bednar said on his radio show Tuesday morning. “Hopefully it’s sooner rather than later, but it will be weeks, not days.…
Kadri, who has 36 points (19 goals, 17 assists) in 51 games, will be replaced on the second line by J.T. Compher, who has 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 51 games.
“It’s a big loss," Bednar said. "You’ve got a faceoff guy, a power-play guy, a second-line center who adds some experience. But we’ve done a nice job throughout the course of the year with other guys stepping up their games. This is an opportunity for some other guys in the middle. I’m confident that other guys can step up and fill that void.… The Avalanche are coming off a 4-1-0 road trip, have gone 7-1-0 in the past eight games and have a point in nine of the past 10 games (7-1-2). They are second in the Central Division, three points behind first-place St. Louis with two games in hand.
The projected lineup:
FORWARDS Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen Valeri Nichushkin – J.T. Compher -- Andre Burakovsky Matt Calvert – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Joonas Donskoi Matt Nieto -- Tyson Jost -- Vladislav Kamenev
DEFENSE Ryan Graves -- Cale Makar Samuel Girard -- Erik Johnson Nikita Zadorov -- Ian Cole
GOALIES Philipp Grubauer Pavel Francouz
Things are moving along at the Air Force Academy, where on Saturday the Avalanche will play Los Angeles at Falcon Stadium.
Here’s my FALCON STADIUM UPDATE STORY