Avalanche defenseman will miss his first game of the season Thursday with an upper-body injury and forward Tyson Jost is being reassigned to San Antonio of the American Hockey League, coach said after Thursday’s morning skate at the .
Jost’s demotion is essentially a rehabilitation assignment. The 19-year-old has missed the past eight games and 10 of 12 with different injuries, and the Avs would rather he play big minutes for the Rampage than be scratched or in a support role in Colorado.
In hosting Washington on Thursday, the Avs will play their first home game in Denver since Nov. 2 when they defeated Carolina. They began a two-game road trip Nov. 4 at Philadelphia and played back-to-back games in Sweden against Ottawa Nov. 10-11. Barrie suffered an upper-body injury at some point in the series in Stockholm, Bednar said.
“It’s been bugging him a little bit. He was pretty sore yesterday. He’s better today,” Bednar said. “He’ll be a guy that should be able to come on the road trip with us and hopefully play this weekend.”
Colorado embarks on a two-game road trip Saturday at Nashville. The trip ends Sunday with the team’s first game at the new Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.
Jost, who is in the first year of his entry-level contract and thus waiver exempt, could return to Colorado in a week, or less. General manager will determine that timetable, Bednar said.
“Lot of discussion on his situation, from coaches and Joe and his staff,” Bednar said about Jost. “He’s missed a lot of time. It’s a lot of time to be out to just jump back in and we feel like we want to put him in a situation to succeed when he comes back, so it’s a good opportunity for him to go down. they have a busy schedule coming up here. He’ll go down and get some games, and get his feet underneath him.”
Kamanev debut. Russian forward Vladislav Kamenev made his Avalanche debut in his third career NHL game Thursday, centering a line with Sven Andrighetto and Nail Yakupov. Kamenev, 21, was acquired from Nashville in the three-team, Nov. 4 trade that sent center Matt Duchene from Colorado to Ottawa.
Acquiring Kamenev allows the Avalanche to be patient with Jost, who ultimately could become its No. 2 center. Kamenev, Jost and fellow rookie Alex Kerfoot are each natural centers expected to contribute in top-six roles.
Footnotes. Defenseman Nikita Zadorov, who has been a healthy scratch in four of the last seven games, including the last one Saturday against Ottawa in Sweden, returned to the lineup and partnered with Mark Barberio on the second pairing. In addition to Barrie, Colorado defensemen Patrik Nemeth (lower-body) and Anton Lindholm (broken jaw) are out with injuries. … Goalie Semyon Varlamov dressed in his 300th game for the Avalanche.
Lines
Avalanche lines and defensive pairings Thursday:
––
Colin Wilson-Alex Kerfoot-J.T. Compher
Sven Andrighetto-Vladislav Kamenev-Nail Yakupov
Matt Nieto-–
Scratched: Gabriel Bourque, Tyson Jost
Sam Girard-
-Mark Barberio
-Andrei Mironov
Scratched: Tyson Barrie (upper-body injury)
will start in goal, backed up by Jonathan Bernier.
