Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon out 3 Weeks After Suffering Lower-Body Injury

The Colorado Avalanche's hopes of turning things around amid a slow start will be more difficult with Nathan MacKinnon expected to miss three weeks. 

Head coach Jared Bednar told reporters that MacKinnon will be out after he suffered a lower-body injury in Saturday's 4-2 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets. 

Wednesday's announcement came after MacKinnon missed practice the day before. He was on the ice for 20:40 against the Blue Jackets, right in line with his season average (21:16). 

The Avalanche started the season without MacKinnon because of COVID-19 protocols. The 26-year-old missed the first two games before being cleared to return ahead of an Oct. 19 game against the Washington Capitals. 

A three-week time frame would put MacKinnon on track to potentially return Dec. 1.

After Colorado won a division title last season for the first time since 2013-14, expectations were high for the Avs. Yet they are off to a 4-5-1 start and rank sixth in the Central Division standings with nine points. 

MacKinnon is tied for the team lead with 10 points, but he only has one goal through eight games. The Canadian star has averaged 33.8 goals and 88.5 points per game over the past four seasons.

J.T. Compher and Nazem Kadri will likely lead Colorado's front-line offense until MacKinnon returns.