Lehkonen missed Sunday's game in Philadelphia with an upper-body injury but he will be a game-time decision on Tuesday. Lehkonen will replace Ryan Poehling (out indefinitely) if he's able to play. Mathieu Perreault will likely draw in if Lehkonen is unavailable.
Manson is in the final year of a four-year deal with a $4.1M AAV cap-hit. The Ducks retained 50 percent of Manson's cap-hit and the 30-year-old will help solidify Colorado's bottom-4. Manson projects to play with Samuel Girard when the Avalanche are fully healthy.
Francouz has gone 11-10-3 with a 2.46 GAA and .920 SV% in 14 games (11 starts) this season. Injuries have been the biggest issue for Francouz but when healthy he is definitely and above-average backup.
Manson has been sidelined since January 29th but is set to play Saturday in New Jersey. Manson will likely replace Andrej Sustr in the lineup and comes in with just seven points (3G / 4A) in 43 games this season.
Girard suffered a lower-body injury in New Jersey on Tuesday and will be out until early-to-mid April. With Girard out for an extended period of time, expect the Avalanche to dip into their organizational depth for a defenseman.
Landeskog has been dealing with a nagging knee injury for "a little bit." He'll undergo surgery and the Avalanche are hopeful that he'll be back for the start of the playoffs but they will know more after the surgery. This is obviously a terrible blow for the Avalanche but they are virtually locked into the playoffs, so they will give Landeskog the opportunity to get right ahead of what they hope is a lengthy playoff run.
Girard will come out of the Avalanche lineup on Thursday due to a lower-body injury, so Kurtis MacDermid will suit up on defence. Girard returned to Colorado to be evaluated.
Nichushkin has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury but is set to play Saturday vs. the Flames. Nichushkin will most likely be back on a line with Nazem Kadri and comes into Saturday's game with 14 goals and 15 assists (29 points) in 37 games.
Nichushkin missed Tuesday's game vs. the Islanders and did not travel to Arizona for Thursday's game vs. the Coyotes. Alex Newhook will remain on the wing in the Avs' top-6 while Nichushkin is out.
Kiviranta missed the last two games with a lower-body injury but is set to play Wednesday vs. the Kings. Kiviranta, who has just one goal and three assists (four points) in 42 games this season, will skate on a line with Jacob Peterson and Alexander Radulov.
