Colorado Avalanche recall veteran winger to cover recent injury to Jonathan Drouin

The 2024/25 season has not started the way that the Colorado Avalanche would have hoped for, as not only are Valeri Nichushkin, Artturi Lehkonen and Gabriel Landeskog all out of the lineup, but they recently saw veteran Jonathan Drouin suffer an injury too. It's not expected to keep him out long, but with the team already short on troops it was the last thing they needed, and now they've found his replacement in the lineup.

According to the Avalanche's official social media, the team is recalling veteran Chris Wagner from the AHL's Colorado Eagles, with the 33-year-old likely to slide into the lineup as the Avalanche look to stay afloat with all of these absences.

While Wagner has been around for a long time, the veteran forward has played in just 373 games at the NHL level over his 10-year career, tallying 38 goals and 65 points over that time. Last season, he played in 13 games with the Avalanche as they dealt with these injuries, but now, he may be in for a significant role in the bottom six as they deal with one of the biggest injury tolls the NHL has seen in just a short period this season.

It remains unclear how long that Jonathan Drouin will be out for, and with three other notable absences, it's going to be a long time until Colorado are at 100%, but with veterans like Wagner to support their superstar players, this team can survive this and come out the other side as a Stanley Cup contender.