The Colorado Avalanche are getting some hopeful news about one of their best players. Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen is heading to concussion protocol following an upper body hit he took in a recent game, per the Denver Post. The good news is that Rantanen is skating, and considered day-to-day.
Rantanen's injury status for Avalanche
Rantanen took a hard hit from Edmonton Oiler defenseman Mattias Ekholm on Friday in a game against the Oilers. The Avalanche forward left the game following the hit, and no penalty was called on the play. The Avalanche would go on to lose badly to the Oilers, 6-2.
“Obviously, you guys saw what happened,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told the press after the game, per Sports Net. “He takes the hit and he was unable to continue. He'll be under evaluation for a while.”
It seems the evaluation may not take as long as previously thought. Bednar said Sunday that his star winger is working out, so a return may happen sooner than expected. The team won't have Rantanen on Sunday, though, in a key clash against the Dallas Stars.
The Avalanche are in the race to to win the Western Conference's Central Division. The team has a 48-23-6 record, heading into the Stars game. Colorado has 102 points on the season; second in the division. The Stars have 105 points, and Sunday's game will have huge implications in the division race. Colorado is also without forward Miles Wood for the Stars game, due to a lower-body injury.
On the season, Rantanen is giving a lot of spark to the Colorado offense. He has 102 points, including 40 goals. He is second on the club in total points, as well as goals. Rantanen is also third on the team in assists. This is the winger's second consecutive 100-point season, and his absence will surely be missed by the Avalanche. Rantanen was selected in the 2015 NHL Draft as the 10th overall pick.
“It’s always tough. He’s one of our top players,” Avalanche forward said Jonathan Drouin said, per the Associated Press. “Hopefully he gets healthy soon, but you can’t really replace a guy like Mikko.”
Colorado is now forced to lean even more heavily on center Nathan MacKinnon for offense. MacKinnon leads the club in nearly every offensive statistical category. He is the team's leading scorer, points leader and assists leader, as well as their best man in the plus/minus category.
“When you’re playing top teams, you have to have depth,” Avalanche coach Bednar said, per the Associated Press. “We’ve got good depth on our team. … The key for us is getting healthy and getting everyone in.”
The Avalanche and Stars do battle at 10:00 Eastern on Sunday. Colorado enters the contest having lost four of their last six contests.
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