Avalanche’s Josh Manson out eight weeks with ankle injury

Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar announced on Friday that defenseman Josh Manson is going to about miss eight weeks due to an ankle injury.

The injury occurred late in the first period of Wednesday’s 5-2 win over the New Jersey Devils after taking a weird hit. He struggled to get off the ice and had to be helped down the tunnel, and did not return to the game after that. The Avalanche confirmed his departure at the start of the third period.

Manson’s current timeline for return has him set to return after the holiday break, which will mean the Avalanche will be without him for at least 20 games barring a quicker recovery than expected. The Avalanche also haven’t announced a stint on injured reserve for Manson yet, but it wouldn’t be surprising if that happens sometime down the road.

Manson joins Zachary L’Heureux on the Avalanche’s injury list, with L’Heureux out on a day-to-day basis with a lower-body injury.

Manson has had a solid start to the season with one goal and three assists for four points in 13 games. That puts him on pace for his usual production in the 20-30 point range.

While no lineup has been confirmed for Saturday’s game against the Calgary Flames, Noah Juulsen is the only other defenseman on the Avalanche roster who didn’t play on Wednesday, and will likely draw into the lineup on the third pairing. No other transactions have been announced, so no defenseman has been recalled yet. Wyatt Aamodt, Domenick Fensore, Keaton Middleton and Christian Wolanin are Colorado’s only defensemen in the AHL with NHL experience, so all could be options to be recalled if need be.

The Avalanche currently sit in third in the Central Division with a 7-5-1 record. Colorado will look to build off of their win over the Devils when they host the Flames on Saturday at 8 p.m. CT.