Avalanche expected to have three key players back in lineup at Columbus – The Denver Post

The Avalanche reassigned Jacob MacDonald to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on Friday in a move that suggests it will have forwards Mikko Rantanen and Andre Burakovsky back in the lineup on Saturday at Columbus.

Rantanen has missed the last three games with a lower-body injury and Burakovsky, also with a lower-body ailment, didn’t play in Wednesday’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Blue Jackets at Ball Arena. Based on Thursday’s practice, Rantanen will rejoin the top line with center Nathan MacKinnon and Gabe Landeskog and Burakovsky will again play with center Nazem Kadri and Logan O’Connor.

MacDonald, a natural defenseman, served as a fourth-line forward in Rantanen’s absence.

The injury-plagued Avs (4-4-1) did not practice Friday before traveling to Columbus.

“It seems like you’re playing with different guys every single shift,” Kadri said of the rash of injuries Thursday. “For myself, I’m not sure I’ve gone more than one period with the same guys. So it definitely gets tough to build some chemistry sometimes, but we don’t use that as an excuse. We understand that everybody in our lineup is able and more than capable of doing the job. So it’s just a chemistry thing and getting a feel for your linemates.”

The Avs will continue to play without forward Valeri Nichushkin (wrist), and rookie forward Martin Kaut suffered a shoulder injury on Wednesday and also did not travel with the team.

Devon’s debut. Colorado is expected to have defenseman Devon Toews make his season debut Saturday. Toews, who led the Avs in average ice time last season, underwent offseason shoulder surgery and began training camp in a red non-contact jersey.

Last week he was cleared for controlled contact and coach Jared Bednar said on Thursday he is likely to play in the home-and-away finale against Columbus.

Footnotes. The Blue Jackets (6-3) and Avs both have just two games in an 11-day stretch because they were originally scheduled to play both games against each other in Finland. Colorado’s next game is Thursday against the visiting Vancouver Canucks and Columbus won’t play again until Friday against the visiting Washington Capitals. … Columbus announced winger Patrik Laine will miss 4-6 weeks with an oblique injury he suffered on Wednesday against the Avs. Laine has 10 points (three goals) in nine games. The Blue Jackets will also continue to play without forwards Emil Bemstrom (oblique) and Max Domi (COVID protocol) and defenseman Dean Kukan (wrist). Defenseman  Adam Boqvist (lower body) is day-to-day.

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