Luck has been on the side of the Colorado Avalanche as they’ve only experienced a mild flurry of departures from the lineup rather than a full-on, well, Avalanche. Still, it’s time to update on those out of the lineup and those who have returned thus far in the 2026-27 season.
Josh Manson
The first real bad break, no pun intended, for Colorado was when Josh Manson went down early in the win against the New Jersey Devils on October 28th. It didn’t look pretty as he tried to make a hit, got twisted and then fell
down awkwardly. Jared Bednar announced a couple days later it was an ankle injury and that the defensman would be out for eight weeks. On the calendar, those eight weeks would fall right in the middle of Colorado’s holiday break, so it’s possible Manson returns before the calendar flips to 2027 and the Winter Classic game in Salt Lake City on New Year’s Eve.
Zach L’Heureux
His upper-body injury has been a mystery ever since the 23-year-old suddenly became unavailable in Dallas before the Avalanche won that game in the first half of the back-to-back. There haven’t been many updates lately other than recovery has been slow going and L’Heureux has yet to hit the ice to begin rehab skating. He was placed on LTIR on October 23rd, which is retroactive to the last day he played on October 10th and has therefore satisfied the requirements of a minimum of 10 game and 24 days out of the lineup. Since he only played three games with minimal ice time when available, it’s unclear what the Avalanche will do when L’Heureux is deemed healthy.
Returning
Both Nic Roy and Logan O’Connor have returned to lineup after dealing with early season ailments. OConnor has endured both personal and injury hardships, which has caused him to miss games multiple times but it seems after his sesson debut on October 23rd and with now five games under his belt he should build his game back up. Roy missed six games in the middle of October but has also been back in the lineup since October 28th.
