Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon has a broken bone in his foot and will miss the next 6-8 weeks, the club announced on Friday morning. The injury effectively puts an end to a disappointing sophomore season for last year’s Calder Trophy winner – who had not previously missed a game in his NHL career.
“He got a shot against Tampa and we had x-rays that were negative,” Avalanche head coach Patrick Roy said of MacKinnon’s injury. “And then he got another shot against Pittsburgh and he came to practice yesterday complaining a bit about it. After practice he had an MRI and they revealed that the had a fracture.”
MacKinnon wraps up his second NHL season with 14 goals and 38 points in 64 contests. His numbers represent a significant regression from his 24-goal, 63-point rookie campaign. Some of his decline can be contributed to simple bad luck as the 19-year-old currently leads the Avalanche with 192 shots on net, but only managed to score on a disappointing 7.3 percent of those attempts.
Unfortunately, MacKinnon was just starting to heat up before the injury as his line with Ryan O’Reilly and Gabriel Landeskog was clicking on all cylinders. In the last 10 games, MacKinnon had registered 4 goals (including his first career hat trick) and five assists.
According to coach Roy, veteran enforcer Cody McLeod will get the first shot at taking MacKinnon’s spot on the wing with O’Reilly and Landeskog.
It has been a rough week for MacKinnon, who also broke his nose taking a hit from the Minnesota Wild’s Sean Bergenheim in a 3-1 loss on Feb. 28.
There was a hint of good news for the Avalanche on Friday as well. Following their practice, top defenseman Erik Johnson got back out on the ice and skated for the first time since undergoing a knee scope on Jan. 26.
“It’s [Johnson’s] first time on the ice,” coach Roy said. “I think we said before 6-8 weeks. I think he will be in that range.”
#Avs' D-man @6ErikJohnson skating after the team practice. pic.twitter.com/EAGWZJHLJB
— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) March 6, 2015
Nathan is a staff writer for Mile High Sports. He can be reached on Twitter at @TheRealNatron.