The Avalanche knew that they wouldn’t have their full roster available to start the season with winger Logan O’Connor still working his way back from hip surgery. It appears he’s not the only one dealing with injury concerns though. Brennan Vogt of Hockey Mountain High reports that goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood and defenseman Samuel Girard are also banged up heading into training camp.
Blackwood didn’t skate with the team during captain’s skates all week and on Friday, worked with goalie coach Jussi Parkilla but voiced some pain when pushing off his right leg during one of the drills. Notably, he wasn’t taking shots either; combined, those suggest he’s not fully healthy heading into camp. Blackwood is beginning a five-year, $26.25MM contract signed soon after being acquired in an early-season trade from San Jose. Scott Wedgewood enters camp as the backup and could be in line for a bit more work early on. If Blackwood were to miss time to start the season, Trent Miner would likely break camp as the interim backup.
As for Girard, Vogt relays that the blueliner didn’t take part in any of the optional skates since August 17th until yesterday and was skating gingerly in a non-contact sweater, suggesting he could be dealing with a lower-body issue. The 27-year-old has had some injury trouble for several consecutive seasons now but when healthy, has been a capable top-four blueliner while also being only one of two left-hand shots in their projected top-six.
Colorado currently has around $1.325MM in cap space as things stand, per PuckPedia, meaning that they don’t have to place O’Connor on LTIR. However, if Blackwood and Girard’s injuries drag into the regular season, operating below the cap ceiling without needing LTIR could become a little trickier, a small subplot to keep an eye on over the next few weeks.