Avalanche Morning Skate: Nichushkin Set For Return Against Wild

Casey Mittelstadt will make his team debut on Friday. The 25-year-old was also wearing burgundy in morning skate, which could be a really fun power-play unit considering his passing abilities and Nichushkin’s knack for scoring on the man advantage. The two will headline the Avalanche’s new-look second line, along with Jonathan Drouin.

Including from Mittelstadt, all four of the new acquisitions will make their team debuts on Friday. It’s also safe to say that Mittelstadt is happy to not have to play against the Avalanche anymore.

Alexandar Georgiev is the confirmed starter against Minnesota. He is 4-3-0 with a 0.901 SV% and 3.13 GAA in seven previous appearances against the Wild. Georgiev picked up the win at the Xcel Energy Center back in late November, turning aside 19 of 21.

The Avalanche had an EBUG on the ice this morning. According to Bednar, Justus Annunen was not a participant in morning skate due to an illness. He hopes the 25-year-old can serve in a backup capacity tonight.

Zach Parise will not play on Friday. The 39-year-old fell awkwardly in the third period on Wednesday and went to the room for a bit before returning. Bednar listed him as day-to-day (lower-body injury).

Logan O’Connor did not participate in morning skate either. He missed Wednesday’s game with a lower-body injury.

Projected Lineup

Lehkonen – MacKinnon – Rantanen

Nichushkin – Mittelstadt – Drouin

Wood – Colton – Duhaime

Cogliano – Trenin – Kiviranta

Toews – Makar

Girard – Manson

Johnson – Walker

Georgiev

Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. MT.