Nathan MacKinnon was back on the ice Tuesday morning, skating with Avalanche skills coach Shawn Allard separate from the team’s full practice at Family Sports Center.
MacKinnon has missed seven games since sustaining an upper-body injury Dec. 5 in Philadelphia. It was projected he’d be out approximately one month, which would be 14 games.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said MacKinnon is still on his regular timeline. MacKinnon worked on change-of-direction and other skating drills with Allard on Tuesday.
Bottom-six forward Andrew Cogliano (upper body) is also expected to miss time for the Avalanche, but Bednar is optimistic the injury suffered Monday against the Islanders wasn’t severe. Cogliano went directly to the dressing room holding his shoulder and collar bone area in the third period.
“He’ll continue to get evaluated over the break,” Bednar said, referring to Colorado’s three days off between games for the holidays (Dec. 24-26). That means Cogliano will miss at least two games, with the Avs facing Montreal on Wednesday and Nashville on Friday.
Denis Malgin is not practicing with the team yet. The Avalanche acquired him from Toronto in a trade Monday, but the Swiss forward is still working through the immigration process, Bednar said.
