It appears as if Colorado’s goaltending situation will be tenuous for a little while. Following last night’s victory in Montreal, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Mike Chambers of the Denver Post that starting netminder Darcy Kuemper could be out for two days or two months, meaning that there’s no timeline for his return. Kuemper is believed to have suffered his upper-body injury at Wednesday’s morning skate after taking a high shot which, coupled with Bednar’s comment, suggests that the veteran may be dealing with a concussion. With Pavel Francouz only beginning his LTI conditioning loan on Wednesday, it will be Jonas Johansson’s crease for the time being.
Other injury news from around the league:
- Still with the Avalanche, Chambers notes in a separate column that defenseman Bowen Byram’s injury isn’t a concussion but that it does pertain to the head injury he just came back from. That return only lasted two games and it wouldn’t be surprising of Colorado errs on the side of caution when it comes to determining when he returns. When healthy, the 20-year-old has impressed with nine points in 13 games while averaging nearly 20 minutes a night on the back end.
- The Devils announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated center Jesper Boqvist from injured reserve. The 23-year-old has missed the last couple of weeks due to an upper-body injury and has split his season between New Jersey and their AHL affiliate in Utica. With the Devils, he has one assist in five games but has eight points in seven minor league contests. New Jersey had an open roster spot so no one needed to be sent down to make room for Boqvist on the active roster.
- The Blackhawks have placed defenseman Connor Murphy in concussion protocol, relays Phil Thompson of the Chicago Tribune. There is no timetable for his return. The veteran is second to Seth Jones in ATOI for Chicago’s defensemen at just under 22 minutes a night while leading the team in blocked shots with 48.