Nathan MacKinnon is not in the lineup for the Avalanche’s first game back from the Olympics. The Avs are in Utah on Wednesday, taking on the Mammoth to commence a stretch of 27 games in 51 days, and five in seven out of the break.
Head coach Jared Bednar said earlier in the week that this would be a possibility. MacKinnon, along with Brock Nelson, Devon Toews, and Cale Makar, all played in Sunday’s gold medal game in Italy. There was a chance that one or more of them would get a little bit of extra rest.
But it would only be for this one game. MacKinnon is expected to be back in the lineup on Thursday at Ball Arena when Colorado hosts the Minnesota Wild.
“I’m definitely not doing that. No. If we make a decision to sit guys on Wednesday, then we’re back to business,” Bednar said about the idea of load managing some of the Olympic participants. “The five in seven nights is probably the toughest part of this. But if we’re fighting for first place, they need to play. Our guys are gonna have to play. Otherwise, we’re gonna be chasing first place instead of in it, in my opinion.”
MacKinnon happened to be the only one who got the extra rest. Makar, Toews, and Nelson are all in the lineup in Utah. As is Brett Kulak, who the Avs acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins for Samuel Girard a day earlier.
There was speculation that MacKinnon could have been playing hurt at the Olympics. Bednar didn’t confirm that, and reiterated that he doesn’t expect anything to linger and keep Olympians out of the lineup for longer than just Wednesday’s game.
“Well, they all played [Sunday], and [Saturday], so they should be good to go,” he said. “Doesn’t mean they’re not going to be dealing with things, you know, that we have to manage.”