Projected timeline of return for injured Avalanche players

Despite their limited lineup, the Colorado Avalanche did well to accumulate three points over the weekend. Mikko Rantanen stole the show in St. Louis and has had five of this Avalanche team's last six tallies. We also saw the much-anticipated return of both Arturri Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin. Their return to the ice hopefully marks the beginning of injured Avalanche players joining the team in waves.

On last week's episode of the Mile High Hockey Lab, our very own Jackie Kay walked us through the list of injured players and detailed their projected return to the ice.

Valeri Nichushkin - Returned vs. New York Rangers (12/9)
Artturi Lehkonen - Returned vs. St. Louis Blues (12/11)

Darren Helm (skating) - This week or next
Evan Rodrigues (skating) - This week or next
Bowen Byram (not skating) - End of December
Kurtis MacDermid (not skating) - End of December
Gabriel Landeskog (not skating) - Mid January
Nathan MacKinnon (not skating) - Early January
Josh Manson (not skating) - Early January

It sounds like the Avs need to stay competitive in December to make a standings push in the next calendar year. If Colorado has half of these players back by then, they will be a much deeper and more well-rounded squad. Soon they won’t need Mikko Rantanen to score every goal!