NASHVILLE — The Colorado Avalanche injury situation has been pretty favorable at the start of the 2025-26 season, but it is veering towards troubling waters now.
Gavin Brindley, a training camp surprise and one of the best early-season stories on the club, is officially week-to-week and will be evaluated in “a few weeks,” a team spokesman said Saturday. Brindley left Colorado’s game Thursday night against the New York Rangers in the first period.
Brindley had been playing mostly on the fourth line, but was promoted to the second because of an injury for Valeri Nichushkin. The rookie has four goals and seven points in 18 games after joining the organization in an offseason trade from Columbus.
The Avs are now missing one-third of their top-12 forwards: Nichushkin, Brindley, Logan O’Connor and Joel Kiviranta. Nichushkin and Kiviranta have skated in the past few days. There is no set timeline for their returns, but Avs coach Jared Bednar did say on the team’s pregame show Saturday that they could be back by next weekend.
O’Connor was expected back in early November from offseason hip surgery, but a soft-tissue issue during his ramp up to return has delayed his season debut. Jason Polin will make his season debut for the Avs with Brindley out.
Colorado is a league-best 14-1-5 ahead of a matchup Saturday night against the Nashville Predators. The Avs have had players miss time with injuries, O’Connor, Mackenzie Blackwood and Samuel Gurard, but not this many guys at one position.
