Nathan MacKinnon will return from injury on Sunday

Credit: Ron Chenoy

Nathan MacKinnon will return to the lineup for the Colorado Avalanche on Sunday after missing the last four games and the All-Star game, with a concussion and facial fracture.

MacKinnon last played on January 26th in a game against the Boston Bruins but was forced to leave early in the first period after an awkward collision with Taylor Hall. He also missed an extended period of time earlier in the season with a lower-body injury. He has 43 points (9G / 34A) in 31 games.

The Avalanche will play in Dallas on Sunday and are in the midst of an extremely impressive 24 game stretch (21-1-2). They are currently first in the league with 70 points and a 33-8-4 record.

DailyFaceoff Projected Lineup

https://publish.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/colorado-avalanche/line-combinations/

Fantasy Spin

The Avalanche didn’t miss a beat offensively with Mackinnon out of the lineup, going 3-0-1, and scoring 15 goals over that time thanks in part to Valeri Nichushkin heating up.

Nichushkin replaced MacKinnon on the top line to play with Landeskog and Rantanen and scored five points during his absence (2G / 3A). Nichushkin has been productive all season with 24 points (13G / 11A) in 29 games and shouldn’t be overly impacted by the return of MacKinnon as he will move to an equally effective second line with Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky.

Alex Newhook stands to be the player most impacted by MacKinnon’s return as he will drop to the third line. Newhook recorded two assists in his last four games and saw a significant increase in ice time.