Colorado Avalanche

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard will take an indefinite leave from the team to enter the NHL and NHLPA's player assistance program.

Per a league statement, Girard will return to the Avs after program administrators clear him for on-ice competition.

Following the news, Girard released a statement through his agency, CAA Hockey.

Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now passed along a statement from Girard's father:

NBC Sports Boston provided a description of the program.

"The NHL and NHLPA started the player assistance program in 1996, giving players access to a confidential phone line and counselors in each city in the league. The jointly funded group assists players and their families with mental health, substance abuse and other matters.

"There is no set time that a player must spend in the program, but they can't leave it without being cleared. Players can continue to get paid while they are in the player assistance program."

The 25-year-old Girard has played in the NHL for seven seasons. He joined Colorado after the Nashville Predators traded him in November 2017. Girard won a Stanley Cup with the Avs in 2022.

EA Sports is gearing up for the launch of its NHL 24 video game, and after it announced Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar as the cover athlete for this year's iteration of the game, the official gameplay trailer has finally dropped.

The trailer takes a deep dive into some of the new aspects of the game, including cross-play, a sustained pressure system, goalie fatigue, vision passing system, human goalie controls and instinct system.

The biggest change to this year's game is the exhaust engine, which was implemented to emulate real NHL shifts.

NHL 24 promises to be one of the better versions of the series, and the game is available now for preorder on Playstation and Xbox prior to its official release on Oct. 6 just before the start of the 2023-24 NHL regular season.

It hasn't taken long for Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar to establish himself as one of the best players in the NHL, and now he will be immortalized on the cover of the league's flagship video game.

EA Sports announced on Monday that Makar will be the cover athlete of NHL 24. The official full reveal is set for Wednesday, Aug. 16.

The fourth overall pick in the 2017 draft by Colorado, Makar made his NHL debut during the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs and quickly made history when he became the first defenseman ever to score a playoff goal in his NHL debut. It was clear from that point that the Avalanche had a special player.

Makar won the Calder Memorial Trophy as rookie of the year following the 2019-20 season. The following year, he finished second in the voting for the James Norris Memorial Trophy as best defenseman in the league. Colorado rewarded him with a six-year, $54 million extension prior to the 2021-22 campaign, and he immediately proved why he was worthy of that commitment.

Makar recorded a career-high 86 points that year, with his 28 goals being the most for an NHL defenseman since the 2016-17 season. He broke through to win the Norris Trophy that year after helping lead the Avalanche to the best record in the Western Conference.

Colorado went on to defeat the two-time defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals to win their third championship in franchise history. Makar was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the postseason after recording a team-high 29 points, the fourth-most for a defenseman in a single playoffs in NHL history.

The Nashville Predators are paying the Colorado Avalanche to take Ryan Johansen off their hands.

New Predators general manager Barry Trotz announced Saturday that the team is acquiring Alex Galchenyuk from the Avs in exchange for Johansen.

As part of the deal, Nashville is paying 50 percent of Johansen's contract, which has two years and $16 million left on it.

The goal for Nashville in this deal seems to be just getting out of paying the entirety of Johansen's contract.

Galchenyuk, who only appeared in 11 games for Colorado last season, is set to become a free agent on July 1. He spent most of the year with the Colorado Eagles, the Avalanche's AHL affiliate.

Nashville missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 2013-14. Trotz, who was the team's head coach for its first 15 seasons, will officially take over as general manager on July 1 to replace the retiring David Poile,

Andrew Brunette was named the Predators' new head coach on May 31 after John Hynes was fired.

Harman Dayal and Sean Gentille of The Athletic noted the Predators have been making moves dating back to the trade deadline to move some of their veteran players on expensive contracts to clear cap space for the summer.

Johansen's $8 million cap hit in 2023-24 was tied with Matt Duchene for the third-highest on Nashville's roster before the deal.

The Predators signed Johansen to an eight-year, $64 million extension in July 2017 after he helped lead the team to an appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in the 2016-17 season.

Since setting a career-high with 64 points in 2018-19, Johansen's performance has dropped off. He did have another season with more than 60 points in 2021-22, but he's only had 86 combined points in the three seasons around that one.

Colorado will take a chance on Johansen returning to his old form by getting him in a new environment. He will likely slot in as the second-line center with Lars Eller set to become a free agent.

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sam Girard is helping house a family impacted by the wildfires raging across Quebec.

Over 13,000 people have been displaced by fires this week. Many were housed north of where Girard owns a home in Roberval, which is about a five-hour drive to the northeast of Montreal.

When Sam's father, Tony, learned evacuating families were heading for Roberval, he called his son to alert him, Olivia O'Malley of CTV News Montreal reported.

Now, the Girard home is hosting evacuees, including a young family with a one-year-old child.

The evacuees came to the Girard home from Chibougamau. The town ordered its entire population of about 7,000 residents to evacuate Tuesday night.

About 800 people arrived in Roberval Wednesday, according to CTV News Montreal. Because families like the Girards opened their doors, only about 35 were sent to stay in the designated emergency shelter.

Avalanche players are familiar with the destruction wrought by wildfires. One of the most destructive fires in Colorado's history burned through the Denver area in December 2021, damaging and destroying more than 1,000 buildings.

Girard, who is signed through 2026-27 with the Avalanche, recorded six goals and 31 assists in 76 games for Colorado during the 2022-23 season.

The Colorado Avalanche announced Tuesday that captain Gabriel Landeskog is expected to miss the entire 2023-24 NHL season as a result of knee surgery.

As part of the announcement, the Avs revealed that Landeskog will have a cartilage transplant in his right knee Wednesday:

The 30-year-old veteran underwent arthroscopic knee surgery at the conclusion of the 2021-22 season, and while he was only supposed to miss part of the 2022-23 season, he ended up missing the entire year.

Before the initial surgery last offseason, Landeskog played a huge role in the Avalanche's 2022 Stanley Cup title, which marked the franchise's first championship since 2001.

Playing alongside several highly skilled offensive players such as Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Cale Makar and Nazem Kadri, he posted 30 goals and 29 assists for 59 points in 51 regular-season games.

That marked only the second time in Landeskog's 11-year career that he averaged more than one point per game in a season.

The Sweden-born winger was even better during Colorado's playoff run, registering 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points in 20 games. He ranked fourth on the team in playoff scoring behind only Makar, Rantanen and MacKinnon.

Additionally, Landeskog's leadership was key to Colorado's success, and that has been the case for several years.

After winning the Calder Memorial Trophy as the NHL's Rookie of the Year in 2012, Landeskog was named team captain. At the time, he was the youngest captain in NHL history at 19 years and 286 days old.

Over the next several seasons, Landeskog earned one All-Star nod and consistently put up strong numbers, including nine 20-goal campaigns, two 30-goal seasons and three seasons with at least 60 points.

In 738 career regular-season games for the Avs, Landeskog has recorded 248 goals and 323 assists for 571 points. He is also a plus-77 player, illustrating his defensive responsibility.

The Avalanche still managed to win the Western Conference's Central Division without Landeskog this season, as they finished with 109 points, but their playoff run was brief.

In the first round, the Avs were shocked by the Seattle Kraken in seven games. The Kraken are in the midst of only their second NHL season, and it was the first playoff series in franchise history.

Colorado clearly missed Landeskog's leadership, edge and offensive ability, and now the Avalanche are set to be without him for two consecutive seasons.

The Avs also have several important role players set to hit unrestricted free agency this offseason, including J.T. Compher and Evan Rodrigues, which suggests returning to Stanley Cup contention could be a huge challenge.

Colorado Avalanche forward Andrew Cogliano will be sidelined indefinitely after suffering a fractured neck during Game 6 of the team's first-round Stanley Cup playoffs matchup against the Seattle Kraken on Friday, per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Cogliano suffered the injury during the second period when Seattle's Jordan Eberle drilled him from behind into the boards. He went right down the tunnel after the hit but returned for the third period.

Eberle was assessed a two-minute minor penalty for boarding on the play. He will not face supplemental discipline from the NHL's Department of Player Safety for the hit.

"I don't know," Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told reporters when discussing the league's decision to not have a disciplinary hearing for Eberle. "I can't figure it out anymore. I don't even try."

Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar was suspended for Game 5 after an illegal hit on Seattle's Jared McCann in Game 4. It was arguably no worse than the hit delivered by Eberle on Friday.

Cogliano has centered Colorado's third line this season alongside Matt Nieto and Logan O'Connor. He tallied 10 goals and nine assists in 79 regular-season games and had not recorded a point in the team's first-round series against the Kraken.

With Cogliano sidelined for the foreseeable future, Alex Newhook figures to be bumped up to the third line. Newhook tallied 14 goals and 16 assists in 82 regular-season games and has one assist in six playoff games.

The Avalanche, the reigning Stanley Cup champions, are tied 3-3 with the Kraken and will play Game 7 on Sunday with a berth in the second round on the line.

A woman who was reportedly in the Seattle hotel room of Colorado Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin was taken to the hospital because a team doctor determined she was too intoxicated to leave in a taxi.

Bennett Durando of the Denver Post cited a report from the Seattle Police Department on events from Saturday afternoon, the same day the Avalanche were in the city to face the Kraken in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.

Nichushkin did not play in that game and hasn't taken the ice for the team since Game 2.

Mark Gandler, Nichushkin's agent, later told The Athletic that the woman was not found in Nichushkin's room.

Avalanche employees said they found the woman during a room check at the hotel.

The police report said the woman told authorities she was born in Ukraine, from Russia and "should never have come to the United States and that some guy took her passport and that he was a bad person."

A Seattle Police Department spokesperson said there is no criminal investigation, while Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Nichushkin has not been away from the team because of discipline nor legal issues.

The forward appeared in the first two contests of the series and scored a goal in Colorado's Game 2 win. He played 53 games during the regular season.

The Kraken lead 3-2 and will have the opportunity to close out the series on their home ice in Friday's Game 6.

The Colorado Avalanche will be without their captain during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Colorado announced Thursday that forward Gabriel Landeskog will miss the entire postseason with a knee injury that cost him all of the 2022-23 regular season.

"We've explored just about every option at this point. ... I thought I was going to be ready to go the second half of this season," Landeskog told reporters Thursday. "... Moving forward we continue to explore options, but I felt like this was the decision I had to make at this point."

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told Bennett Durando of the Denver Post on Sunday that Landeskog would not return during the regular season. Prior to that, the team hadn't ruled out the possibility the veteran would suit up, and there was optimism he would appear in the playoffs.

"He's pushing himself to the limits of what he feels like he can do," Bednar told reporters Wednesday.

Landeskog underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in October and was given a 12-week recovery timeline. When he was reevaluated, it was determined that he would not return within the original timetable.

The 30-year-old spent much of the 2022-23 season rehabbing away from the team and didn't return to Denver until February. He had been skating in anticipation of a return to the ice but was never a full participant in practice.

Landeskog was a significant contributor for the Avalanche during their 2022 playoff run that ended with Colorado winning its first title since 2001, so this loss is massive for Bednar's squad. He tallied 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points in 20 postseason games en route to lifting the Stanley Cup.

With Landeskog unavailable during the 2022-23 season, the Avs have gone 49-24-7 and sit second in the Central Division behind the Dallas Stars. Colorado has regular-season games remaining against the Winnipeg Jets and Nashville Predators before the playoffs begin Monday.

While Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen have excelled as expected this season, each notching more than 100 points, J.T. Compher, Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin have picked up the slack in Landeskog's absence.

The Avalanche will need the trio to continue producing at a high level in the postseason if they hope to make it back to the Stanley Cup Final without their captain.

Colorado has also been without star defenseman Cale Makar of late due to a lower-body injury, but he's expected to return in the postseason.