Nathan MacKinnon will not play Thursday night for the Colorado Avalanche and may miss the final three games of the regular season while dealing with a minor injury.
MacKinnon has missed several practices and morning skates lately. That has been part of his routine in recent seasons to help him stay fresh for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“He’s dealing with something,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “I think you get to this point in the year, all these guys are dealing with something. The guys who didn’t get the break for the Four Nations, this has been a tough stretch of games since then. So I think rest is part of it.”
MacKinnon, who has played every game this season and last, is currently tied for the NHL scoring lead with Tampa Bay’s Nikita Kucherov. The reigning NHL MVP has never won the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s scoring leader.
If he does miss the final three games, MacKinnon will finish the season with 32 goals and 116 points in 79 games. That is tied with Peter Forsberg’s career high in 1995-96 for the ninth-most points in a season in franchise history. MacKinnon set the franchise record last season with 140 points en route to his first Hart Trophy.
“I’m listening to him,” Bednar said. “I don’t think individual accolades … like I think they’re nice. I think he’s won a lot of them. His trophy case is huge. I don’t think it matters to him. I think winning has always been the most important thing to him.
“Having accomplished that in 2022, I think he got a taste for it and he wants to win again. He’s going to make his decisions based on us winning and him feeling the best he can possibly come Game 1 in Dallas.”
Martin Necas and Samuel Girard will return to the lineup Thursday night for the Avs against Vancouver, while Ryan Lindgren is also dealing with an injury and will be out against the Canucks.
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