The Colorado Avalanche are on the verge of potentially shutting down superstar centre Nathan MacKinnon for the teams three remaining regular season games.
Head coach Jared Bednar said Thursday MacKinnon wouldn’t play in their game that night against the Vancouver Canucks, and that he could take maintenance days for their two remaining regular season games, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, facing the Kings and Ducks.
The final decision, Guerilla Sports’ Meghan Angley reported, will be MacKinnon’s.
MacKinnon’s been tremendous as usual this season, scoring 32 goals and 116 points in 79 games for the Avalanche, marking his third straight year with over 100 points.
That’s not the only notable news around Colorado, however, as Gabriel Landeskog was assigned to their AHL affiliate for a conditioning stint Wednesday. His last game was three years ago in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals when the Avalanche hoisted the Stanley Cup.
He underwent arthroscopic knee surgery after that Cup win, and setbacks forced him out of the 2022-23 season. He was shut down for the 2023-24 season after he needed to undergo a cartilage transplant surgery.
Other news and notes…
- Speaking of players getting shut down for the rest of the year, the playoff-eliminated Boston Bruins announced they would be without defenceman Charlie McAvoy and forward Mark Kastelic for their remaining games this year. McAvoy never returned since suffering a shoulder injury in Game 1 of the 4-Nations Face-Off competing for Team USA, while Kastelic has been out with an upper-body injury since March 22nd.
- In Pittsburgh, it’s a large list of players whose seasons have been shut down. Forwards Tommy Novak, Rutger McGroarty, Matt Nieto, Noel Acciari and Blake Lizotte will all be done for the year, head coach Mike Sullivan said Thursday.
- Longtime NHL executive Ray Shero passed away at the age of 62, the NHLPA announced Wednesday. Most recently serving as a senior advisor for the Minnesota Wild over the last four years, Shero began his career as an assistant general manager with the Ottawa Senators between 1993-98, before joining the expansion Nashville Predators in the same role from 1998-06. His first general manager role came with the Penguins, when he was hired in 2006, helping the team win a Stanley Cup and remain competitive until 2013-14, when he lost the job. He spent between 2015-20 as the general manager of the New Jersey Devils before moving onto his most recent role with the Wild.
Zach Laing is Oilersnation’s associate editor, senior columnist, and The Nation Network’s news director. He also makes up one-half of the DFO DFS Report. He can be followed on Twitter, currently known as X, at @zjlaing, or reached by email at zach.laing@bettercollective.com.