Avalanche’s Ross Colton to “miss some time” with injured foot
The injury troubles keep piling up for the Colorado Avalanche.
Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar announced after Monday’s 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks that Ross Colton is expected to miss some time with a foot injury.
COL coach Jared Bednar said Ross Colton will “miss some time” after injuring his foot blocking a shot
Colton left the arena in a walking boot
Colton suffered the injury late in the second period after taking a shot off of his foot during an Avalanche power play. He was seen leaving the arena in a walking boot after the game, and Bednar confirmed the suspicions that he is expected to miss some time, although a specific timeline has yet to be provided.
Colton was held scoreless and had three shots, one hit and one blocked shot in 15 minutes of ice time in the loss.
It will be a big blow to the Avalanche, not just because of their injury problems already but because Colton had been a big contributor for the team this season. In 10 games this season, he had 8 goals and 1 assist for 9 points playing alongside Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, and was on pace to easily eclipse his previous career highs of 22 goals set in 2021-22 and 40 points set last season.
The Avs appeared to rotate between Casey Mittelstadt and Nikolai Kovalenko in the third period to replace Colton on the top line alongside MacKinnon and Rantanen. We’ll likely have a better idea as to who will be the long-term replacement on that top line before Tuesday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Mittelstadt has 6 goals and 7 assists for 13 points in 10 games this season, while Kovalenko has 1 goal and 3 assists for 4 points in 10 games.
The Avalanche will look to bounce back from both the loss of Colton and their loss to the Blackhawks when they host the Lightning on Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST. Colorado currently sits in fifth in the Central Division with a 5-5-0 record.