The Colorado Avalanche left Ottawa with more than an overtime loss. They also walked out of the game without Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, and both stars are expected to be sidelined for a stretch.
MacKinnon’s night ended after a battle with Senators defenseman Artem Zub, who delivered a routine cross-check that caught MacKinnon on the right hip. MacKinnon went down in pain, reached for the area, then got back to his feet and skated off under his own power. He did return briefly before leaving the game for good.
Makar’s situation looked even more troubling because it happened without contact. While carrying the puck at the point, he appeared to tweak something and exited the game.
Adrian Dater reported, “Both will ‘miss some time’, according to my sources. How long that is beyond tomorrow’s game has yet to be determined.”
Elsewhere around the league, Simon Edvinsson’s contract situation with the Detroit Red Wings is drifting toward an even stranger ending. After spending the summer and training camp frustrated by the lack of a deal, Edvinsson reported to camp anyway before heading back to Sweden to train. The situation stayed quiet until nearly a month into the season, when Elliotte Friedman said Edvinsson now prefers a trade out of Detroit.
There still haven’t been credible reports on what the Red Wings are actually offering, but there is a belief they are treating Moritz Seider’s $8.55 million salary as the ceiling. In the current market, that has not been viewed as a fair offer.
With the December 1 deadline for restricted free agents to sign approaching, Detroit had hoped Edvinsson would eventually agree to a contract. Instead, he is now reportedly willing to go to Sweden and play out the year. On NHL Now, Friedman said Swedish reporters strongly believe he will head there if he can’t play in the NHL.
The Red Wings are also dealing with Dylan Larkin sitting out while he awaits a trade, which only adds more pressure to get these situations right.
In Toronto, the Maple Leafs’ rough stretch is not expected to lead to a coaching change. The team is six points out of a playoff spot at the quarter mark of the season, and the slide has been ugly: five straight losses, all of them at home.
There are plenty of reasons the season has gone sideways. Injuries have piled up, Sergei Bobrovsky hasn’t delivered the level of play the Leafs wanted, and the roster available to the coach simply isn’t the strongest group in the league. But the heat around Hiller’s job comes from the losing streak, the home skid, and the sense that some players look unmotivated while others aren’t being used the way many around the team would like.
The top line of Easton Cowan, Auston Matthews, and Jack Roslovic has been one of the few bright spots. It hasn’t been flawless, but it has not been the issue.
The second line has been a bigger problem. John Tavares and William Nylander, along with a rotating winger, have not clicked consistently.
Tavares has not looked great since returning from injury, and Nylander has been up and down. Ryan Tverberg got a look there and looked good, but the line still didn’t produce enough.
The bottom six has done its job, but the biggest concern is Gavin McKenna. He is averaging less than 14 minutes of ice time per game and is often going long stretches without playing during games.
Even so, a firing would not instantly fix the Leafs’ deeper issues. The bigger priority, if this keeps going south, may be finding ways to get the younger players more ice time.
Speaking on Hiller and the Leafs, Chris Johnston said, “I don’t see how they could fire him. They just hired him. When’s the last time a coach got 25 or 30 games, let alone the 21 or whatever they’ve played?”
In Other News...
Avalanche Head To Montreal With A Massive MacKinnon Makar Concern
The Avalanche left Ottawa with more than a loss to sort through, as Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar both exited with lower-body injuries and their availability for the next stop in Montreal is now up in the air. For a Colorado team that leans heavily on both stars in every situation, the timing could hardly be worse, and coach Jared Bednar offered no postgame update to ease the concern.
Montreal is waiting with a little momentum of its own after a 5-2 win over Boston, and rookie goaltender Jacob Fowler has continued to build on a strong start to his season. Even so, the Canadiens confidence will matter less to Colorado than the status of its two biggest names, because the matchup changes quickly if either MacKinnon or Makar cannot go. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Showed One Encouraging Sign In A Frustrating Overtime Loss
The Avalanche left Canadian Tire Centre with a frustrating 4-3 overtime loss to the Senators, but there was at least one encouraging sign buried in the result. Colorado dug out of a 2-0 hole with goals from Artturi Lehkonen, Parker Kelly and Gabriel Landeskog, showing the kind of push-back that had been missing at times when games have started to slip away.
Jared Bednar had reason to point to the special teams and the overall effort as positives, even if the standings reward went to Ottawa after Shane Pinto ended it in overtime. For a team trying to stack better habits on top of better results, the comeback mattered almost as much as the point it cost them, because it showed the Avalanche can still find a way back into a game when it starts to tilt the wrong direction. [Read more 🡒]
Avalanche Suddenly Need Gavin Brindley For More Than Just Depth
The Avalanches forward depth has taken another hit, and Gavin Brindley is back in the picture after being recalled from the Colorado Eagles. The move comes in the wake of Nathan MacKinnons lower-body injury against the Ottawa Senators, a setback that leaves Colorado waiting to see how long it will be without one of its most important players.
Brindley has already spent time with the Avalanche this season, appearing in five NHL games, and he has shown enough offensive touch in the AHL to earn another look. What changes now is the context: this is no longer just about having an extra body available, but about whether Colorado needs him to help cover meaningful minutes while MacKinnons status remains unsettled. [Read more 🡒]