Matt Duchene practiced with the Avalanche for the first time Monday after playing for World Cup of Hockey champion Team Canada, and he discussed the separated shoulder he sustained four days before the tournament.
The injury was first reported by ESPN's Pierre LeBrun.
Duchene, who scored a career high 30 goals last season, was hurt during a Canada practice on Sept. 13 in Pittsburgh. The injury didn't prevent him from playing for the tournament champions, and he said it won't hinder his play this season.
"It's better," he said after skating at right wing on a line with left wing Gabriel Bourque and center Nathan MacKinnon. "It's a little stiff in the mornings, but once I get warmed up I don't feel it. I feel good. I'm at 100 percent in terms of I can play.
"Just got a bump in practice. It's one of those things where it doesn't get worse if you play with it, it's just painful. It’s going to linger for a bit, but it’s feeling good. It was weird, it was a bad luck injury. That was it. “The first day was the worst. I think I’ve played through worse. I’ve played through better, it wasn’t a big deal. It didn’t affect me all tournament. Obviously, the first time you go out, you’re a little tentative on it, but after that, it’s just fine."
Duchene had two goals and two assists in six World Cup games, with both goals coming in a pretournament win against Team USA. The Canadians swept a best-of-three championship series against Team Europe.
Duchene said he never considered pulling out of the tournament.
"It’s a huge honor to play for that team,… he said. “It was something I put a lot of work into over the summer and for the past couple of years. We had a really good shot of winning that tournament and it was something I wanted to be a part of.
…I was pretty happy with the way I played. We just rolled four lines for the most part. We had pretty much four first lines and it was a great experience for me and something I’m looking to bring forward (with Colorado). I enjoyed it the day after and a couple of days after, but now it’s back to work with the Avs here and I’m looking forward to helping this team win.…
First-year coach Jared Bednar said that he and the organization were aware of the injury and were kept apprised of the situation.
"They didn't think it would be an issue here, and it wasn't," he said. "Everything went great today, so it's good for us. It's good to get him back with our team."
Bednar said he hasn't decided whether to use Duchene at his natural center position or at right wing.
"We're looking at it," he said. "I haven't decided either way how our lines are going to shake out. We're still in kind of that evaluation mode. I like the way some of our guys have played at center, so I think we're going to have some options there."
Duchene said he'd be fine playing either position.
"I can play right wing and center," he said. "I'm equally as comfortable now. I played most of last year at right wing. I'll probably be a hybrid this year."
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Semyon Varlamov will start in goal Tuesday when the 3-0 Avalanche play Minnesota at the Pepsi Center. Calvin Pickard will play Wednesday at Dallas, and Varlamov will go in the preseason finale Saturday against Los Angeles in Las Vegas.
Bednar said Mikko Rantanen (ankle injury), John Mitchell and Blake Comeau (both undisclosed) are "getting close" to returning. All three skated before practice Monday.
"This isn't the time of year to push people through injuries," Bednar said. "We want all of them coming back healthy."