Jack Johnson joins Nathan MacKinnon in Avalanche COVID-protocol absence – The Denver Post

The Avalanche will be without six players in Saturday night’s game against the visiting St. Louis Blues.

Defenseman Jack Johnson became the fourth loss in the opening week of the season when the team announced he has joined star center Nathan MacKinnon in COVID protocol. Forwards Gabe Landeskog (suspension) and Valeri Nichushkin (upper-body injury) are also unavailable against the Blues.

Defenseman Devon Toews and goalie Pavel Francouz began the season on injured reserve.

Colorado had just 17 skaters and two goalies participate in Saturday’s morning skate at Ball Arena, and the club might only have a 19-player lineup to be salary-cap compliant.

“Put it this way, it’s going to be a blender,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said of his lineup after the morning skate. “You can go through the roster of the guys we got here and some of our top guys will get extra ice. It may be a blender from the start. There’s a lot of question marks.”

Forwards Stefan Matteau and Dylan Sikura will make their Avalanche debuts after being recalled from the AHL’s Colorado Eagles on Friday. New defenseman Kurtis MacDermid, who was the only healthy scratch in Wednesday’s 4-2 opening-night victory over the Chicago Blackhawks, will also make his team debut.

“It’s going to be a big test for our team but I know there’s a lot of guys in the locker room that are really excited, myself included,” Avs forward Tyson Jost said. “It’s St Louis, too, so it’s always a big game playing those guys. It’s a nice division rival and I know we’re going to be excited.”

A pregame ceremony to honor late general manager Pierre Lacroix is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m., an hour before the game. Lacroix died at age 72 in December to a COVID-related illness. The 30-minute event will include some of the Avalanche’s all-time great players, including Peter Forsberg.

“It’s a special night,” Jost said. “Hearing stories from some of the guys that were in the organization when he was around, I heard nothing but great things. I heard he was great person, great at what he did, so it’ll be really special and it’s great to honor him and the great legacy he left behind.”

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