Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson will miss “weeks” with a lower-body injury, coach Jared Bednar said Tuesday night, but the team is unsure whether Johnson’s recovery will last into the playoffs.
“I don’t have a tight timeline on him, but he’s out indefinitely,” Bednar said.
Johnson sustained the injury in the first period of Colorado’s 5-3 win last Saturday at the Florida Panthers. He was further evaluated Tuesday.
This season and last had been two of the healthiest in Johnson’s career. The 34-year-old, a No. 1 overall pick in 2006, appeared in 77 regular season games in 2021-22, helping the Avalanche to a Stanley Cup, and he played in the first 51 games of the title defense before Tuesday’s 4-3 loss to the Lightning.
The longest-tenured Avalanche player recently surpassed 900 career games and 700 with Colorado. He has seven assists this season, averaging 17:32 in ice time.
Johnson, Cale Makar and Josh Manson are now the full list of injured Avalanche defensemen. Makar (head) will be unavailable Wednesday (7:30 p.m. MT) when the Avs face Minnesota, but Manson (lower body) is a possibility to return after missing the last 31 games.
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