More injury updates for the Colorado Avalanche

Tuesday’s practice revealed plenty more about the injuries the Colorado Avalanche currently faces. After Monday night’s agonizing 3-2 defeat to the Vegas Golden Knights, we learned more about players and their status.

One of them is Evan Rodrigues, who was a late scratch and didn’t play Monday night. He has an upper-body injury but is being considered day-to-day. He was evaluated up until a few hours before puck drop whether or not he would play.

The same can be said about Valeri Nichushkin, who hit the ice for the first time at practice since re-aggravating his ankle injury. Both returns are highly anticipated and help the Avs get more scoring outside of the top line.

The good news for both? They will be making the trip to Canada this week as they play the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers. However, head coach Jared Bednar is unsure if either will end up playing. Nonetheless, both are good signs of an anticipated return hopefully soon.

Another player who hit the ice Tuesday was Josh Manson, for the first time since his injury. A second player on the blue line which everyone wants to know about is Bowen Byram. Byram had been progressing downward since his lower-body injury, and apparently had not been reacting to the treatment he was given, according to Bednar.

While he hasn’t hit the ice and had setbacks in his recovery, he is not the only one to feel setbacks. Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog remains out for an extended period of time. Bednar had stated he was nowhere near close to returning, and that his timeline of returning within 12 weeks has been extended.

However, Bednar said in his weekly Altitude Sports Radio show said he expects both Byram and Landeskog to play sometime this season, despite not having a timeline at the moment. It’s been a long road, but knock on wood, things may look more normal by the middle/late February on ice for the Avs. It’s the best we can hope for. If the Avs can get back on track and do their best to have around a .500 record when players return, they can ramp up and climb back up the standings as the season comes to a close.