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.
“He’s going to miss some time,” Bednar said. “I don’t have a tight timeline on him, but he’s out indefinitely.”
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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