The Avalanche announced Friday morning that they cancelled their morning skate as a precaution because an unidentified person tested positive for COVID-19.
Rookie defenseman
Bowen Byram has since been added to the NHL COVID-19 protocol list.
The rest of the team tested negative before Friday night’s scheduled game against the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center.
Here are the
GAME NOTES.
Byram has been skating in optional practices while recovering from an upper-body injury; he’s missed seven games.
The Avalanche will be without defenseman
Jacob MacDonald, who will begin serving a two-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Minnesota Wild forward
Ryan Hartman on Wednesday.
The Avalanche are looking to rebound from their 8-3 loss to the Wild, which ended their 15-game point streak (13-0-2), one shy of the franchise record.
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The Avalanche are bringing back defenseman
Patrik Nemeth, acquiring him from the Detroit Red Wings for a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NHL draft. He will be an unrestricted free agent after the season.
The 6-foot-3, 228-pound Nemeth, 29, has eight points (two goals, six assists) in 39 games and averaging 2:09 killing penalties.
Nemeth played two seasons with the Avalanche, from 2017-19, after being claimed on waivers from the Dallas Stars and had 25 points (four goals, 21 assists) in 142 games. He had a team-high 185 blocked shots in 2017-18 when he had career highs in goals (three) and assists (12) in 68 games.
Nemeth has 56 points (seven goals, 49 assists) in 353 career games, with one assist in 18 playoff games.
The projected lineup:
FORWARDS
Gabriel Landeskog -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Brandon Saad -- Nazem Kadri -- Andre Burakovsky
Valeri Nichushkin -- Tyson Jost -- Joonas Donskoi
J.T. Compher -- Pierre-Edouard Bellemare -- Liam O’Brien
DEFENSE
Devon Toews -- Samuel Girard
Ryan Graves -- Cale Makar
Greg Pateryn -- Kyle Burroughs
GOALIES
Philipp Grubauer
Jonas Johansson
Colorado Avalanche Blogger •Avalanche Insider • 
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