Things just took a SHOCKING turn... Major Avalanche update

The Colorado Avalanche got some shocking news today with Cale Makar leaving practice with an apparent lower body injury. Alex Gagné has been called up, so you have to wonder, does Jared Bednar plan on Makar sitting out a game or two during this road trip? Welcome to Avalanche Digest, I'm Copeland Jones. Don't forget to subscribe. It's completely free and you get daily updates on the Colorado Avalanche. So Cale Makar left practice early with an apparent lower body injury. There is a bit of a history to this injury. It may be stemming from the last game, but making up Makar's lost time in games is going to be a big deal as he plays 22 to even 25, 26 minutes a night. And replacing that production is going to be pretty hard for this Avs defense that has already banged up without Josh Manson. Jared Bednar said, He went off for precautionary reasons, and then we'll just see how he presents tomorrow. So this is right before we play the Toronto Maple Leafs on a road trip. It is said that he is going to practice or travel with the team, but as star Cale Makar has left practice in pain. He also left a shift last night after an awkward fall in the crease paint, but has also returned to the game. So this is all stemming back from the game against the Red Wings. But Kale McCarr is expected to travel with the team, not necessarily concluding that he's going to miss any time. But the call-up of Alex Gagné may have everyone wondering, is he going to miss a game or two? Is he going to miss more than that? Is he not going to miss any at all? Are we going to get to see the NHL debut of Alex Gagné with this team? We don't even know right now, honestly. But what is confirmed? Practice exit was precautionary. Makar will travel with the team, and playing status still awaits a confirmation. So Colorado Avalanche will recall Alex Gagné, a guy I have been super excited to see with this team for a long time. His contract hit is no big deal, $910,000 expires after the end of the season, but he will be a restricted free agent. So this is basically his early tryout for the team if he gets any playing time. I honestly would kind of like to see him in the lineup a little bit more than I see Noah Juleson, just because Alex Gagné would be a bigger, more physical presence on that back end. But all of our forward groups are the exact same. Tanev and Makar, I'm still going to have them up there as of right now. But the only shift you would see in this lineup is you would see Molenski probably bump up to that top pair with Tanev. Kulak would play with Brent Burns and Noah Juleson. Or, yeah, Kulak would play with Brent Burns. And that last grouping would be Alex Gagné and Noah Juleson. Now, that last grouping may be a little rough considering they are both guys that are new to the system or at least haven't played much. NHL time with the Avalanche. Juleson's played a dozen games or so, but Alex Gagné would be making his NHL debut. And with Juleson not being the best defender in the world, I don't necessarily love if that would be the pairing that we have there. We may try to spread out a couple of players, maybe have Burns with Gagné, so they're two big physical guys over there, or we move Juleson to a different pair, or Kulak gets pulled down to the third pair. We'll see how things happen, and that is if Kale McCarr, yet again, does not play at all. Gagné was recalled from the Eagles. He has yet to make his NHL debut, but no lineup spot has been announced for his position. Alex Gagné, this was during the rookie faceoff at the beginning of the year, but slings the puck into the back of the net after a drop pass from Cooper Gay. He did show out really well in that rookie faceoff. Now, the preseason didn't show up so great from there. I believe he had just an assist, and he wasn't as dominant of a present as he was in the rookie faceoff. Yet again, he's playing against a bunch of rookies versus NHL players. But I still think he has the potential. He is 6'4". He's a bigger defenseman, and he is definitely a very physical defenseman. I believe he got into a fight in the preseason as well, if I'm not mistaken. I may be mistaken, but I really liked how he looked over there. So I think he'd be great to join with. So the recall does not settle the availability. An extra defender provides options, considering the Avs are going to be going on a four-game road trip. They're going to be traveling much throughout Canada. I believe we play Toronto. We play the Canadians. We play one of the other Canadian teams. I don't exactly remember. And then we finish up with a road game against Utah on the 18th, which is when our next live stream will be. So if you like the live streams, make sure to check out the live stream on the 18th against Utah. I will be doing that. Watch the next escape for a lineup of clues. Next skate will be tomorrow morning, right before the game. The team has probably, or the team has already traveled. And we will see who exactly is going to be running things. Kyle McCarr's role tests the avalanche depth, so we're going to see how our depth is going to respond if he happens to miss out. But, Kyle McCarr hasn't been all great things this year. His puck management remains a weakness, even with the offensive value. He has over one giveaway per game in the NHL that is in the 25th percentile. It is not great, but replacing his assist numbers in the 98th percentile and his power play points per game in the 93rd percentile Pretty hard. He is the quarterback, so to say, of our power play. And our power play has definitely been heating up as of late. Lately on the power play, the Avs have a 23.3%, which is a lot better than the 17% we had as of about two weeks ago. But Carr has seven power play points and has been on ice for eight power play goals. And we had a three power play goal night against The Red Wings, it was a fantastic night for the Avs. Penalty kill still needs a lot of work, but it's slowly getting there. We're still in the top half of the league for that, so it's not too bad. But I'd like to see the Avs hover about 81, 82% at least. Power play getting closer and closer to 25%. It's looking fantastic. But I would imagine with Kyle McCarr gone, that would mean Devontae's or Sam Malinski would take over that quarterback spot at the top of the blue line. For that first power play unit, it would probably be easier with Taves considering he has worked a little bit with that top unit. He has actually been fairly successful on the power play unit on the second unit. That is because the second unit so far this season, to me at least, has looked like the better unit out of the two. They just happen to get a lot less ice time. So if McCarr cannot play, redistribute his even strength workload, confirm who quarterbacks the power play and support the defense with committed checking. So a lot of. Physicality is going to be needed to replace the suave skating technique and puck handling that Kyle McCarr has, but maybe we'll see some fancy things, some players that we don't always see. Sam Malinski, maybe he can get some of his, like, mojo back. He used to be absolutely fantastic at the blue line, kind of like Kyle McCarr, he would skate the blue line. He's gotten a little sloppy over the last couple of... I mean, last handful of games dating back to last season, he's gotten a little bit sloppy in that category. But. I am sure that it is still in there somewhere. So, Gagne adds another available defender. Veterans would share the larger roles, and availability news determines whether that is needed. But what do you think is the hardest role that is going to be replaced if McCart misses any time? Would it be even strength in minutes and creation, power play, quarterbacking, or contributions beyond scoring? Kyle McCart is a big part of this lineup, and Alex Gagne, maybe he can fill that while he's gone, The Avs are going to miss him while he's, no, I mean, if he misses any time, the Avs are going to miss that very dearly. The Avs have been looking pretty solid on the power play lately. I think that's one of the biggest strengths that McCarr brings to this team, as he has been playing a lot better on the power play. Everyone has been playing better on the power play. I hope Gagne gets his NHL debut, but I hope it doesn't come at the expense of McCart missing an extreme amount of time. Pretty interesting that Gagne was the one that got the call-up, considering Middleton got the call-up last time when he was considered to be extra depth for a road trip or a homestand whenever Manson got injured. Alrighty, that's all we have for you. So we'll keep a lookout on the Kyle McCart news before this road trip gets started tomorrow. Thank you very much. Don't forget to watch the game. stream against Utah on the 18th. Check it out. Subscribe. See you next time.