Great News On The Injury Front For 2 Key Avalanche Players

The Colorado Avalanche are a team that is regularly banged up throughout the season. It has somewhat held them back, but they do have a Stanley Cup despite all of that. Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Josh Manson, Bowen Byram, and Gabriel Landeskog have missed a good deal of time, so when injury news is good for the team, it calls for celebration.

Head coach of the Avalanche, Jared Bednar, noted that both Mikko Rantanen and Josh Manson would be ready for opening night. Both of them have only dressed for one preseason game and their status was uncertain until now.

Rantanen is a huge piece for the Avalanche as he scored 55 goals and 105 points last season. Manson spent nearly 3/4 of last season on the injured reserve. While the team managed without him, he is a physical force and Colorado is much better with him in the lineup. This season we could see him as a third pairing defenseman, but that's just due to the fact that the team has so much talent on their back-end.

Bednar also noted that Andrew Cogliano may or may not be ready for opening night. He hasn't played in the preseason and is still working his way back from a fractured neck suffered in the first round series last season. To know that he is almost back as well is a good sign. The Avalanche loaded up their depth this offseason anyways in an attempt to not have a repeat of last season.