Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon may miss rest of regular season
Apr 10, 2025, 11:31 AM | Updated: 11:38 am
Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon might not play again in the regular season.
That’s what head coach Jared Bednar shared with the media on Thursday after morning skate ahead of a contest with the Vancouver Canucks at Ball Arena.
The good news is it’s a “minor injury” for MacKinnon and it sounds like he and the team are just being cautious before the playoffs. The Avalanche are all but locked into the third-seed in the Central Division and will almost assuredly face the Dallas Stars in the first-round of the postseason.
Bednar told the media that MacKinnon definitely won’t play against the Canucks, and the decision is up to him if he wants to face the Kings and Ducks over the weekend out in California. However, Bednar was asked if he expects Nathan MacKinnon to skate in those games and he said “probably not.”
It’s a bummer for the race for the Art Ross Trophy, as MacKinnon and Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov both have 116 points, but other than that it doesn’t really matter. MacKinnon is in the business of winning Stanley Cups, not capturing an award for the most points in the NHL.
Could it affect his Hart Trophy campaign as the league’s MVP? Perhaps, but if voters hold this against MacKinnon for being smart, that’s on them.
The playoffs will begin for the Avalanche on April 19 or 20, so Nathan MacKinnon will have nine or 10 days off before hopefully returning at full strength. He hasn’t missed a game since December of 2022, so whatever is bothering him is clearly something worth resting. MacKinnon recently played in his 200th consecutive regular season game.
But again, Colorado has very little to play for in the final three games of the regular season, so this is likely just playing it safe before the real show begins next weekend.
