Avalanche deal with major lineup uncertainty before chance to sweep Kings
Josh Manson did not practice Saturday, raising real questions about his availability for the Colorado Avalanche ahead of Game 4 in Los Angeles tomorrow night.
The team lists the 34-year-old defenseman as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Reporter Tracey Myers flagged his absence from practice this afternoon on X, noting there was no update on his status.
Timing matters here. The Avalanche already lead the series 3-0, but closing out a playoff series on the road is never a formality, and Manson is not a depth piece.
He carried a +42 rating over 79 regular-season games this year. That number puts him among the most reliable defensive contributors on the whole roster.
In three playoff games, he had two assists and was a +2. Quiet on the scoresheet, but exactly the kind of presence Jared Bednar leans on when the minutes get hard and the Kings start rolling pucks to the net.
Losing him for a potential sweep game would not be catastrophic, but it would mean rearranging a blue line that has looked steady all series.
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Avalanche blue line depth gets tested without Manson
Devon Toews has two assists in the playoffs. Sam Malinski logged all 82 regular-season games and went +43. Brett Kulak has been serviceable. There is coverage available.
But Manson fills a specific role. He is not Cale Makar. He is not the guy generating offense from the blue line. He is the guy absorbing the opponent's best line so Makar can do damage elsewhere.
Think of him like a lineman on an offensive line: nobody notices him until he is gone, and then the quarterback suddenly has no time to think.
Nick Blankenburg and Jack Ahcan are on the roster but have a combined 72 regular-season games between them this season, and Ahcan played only 11.
The Kings are down 0-3 and playing with desperation. That is exactly when a team with Manson-type physicality earns its paycheck.
Bednar will have a decision to make by tomorrow's puck drop. If Manson is out, the Avalanche's closing game will look a little different behind the top four.
The series is theirs to close. Whether they do it with a full deck or a short bench on the back end is the question nobody wanted heading into Sunday.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 25 | 226 ANSWERS Avalanche deal with major lineup uncertainty before chance to sweep Kings Should the Avalanche rest Manson and protect him for Round 2, even if he could play in Game 4? | ||
| Yes | 206 | 91.2 % |
| No | 20 | 8.8 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
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HIER
5 MAI 2026
| ||||
| B | P | PTS | ||
| Nathan MacKinnon | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Gabriel Landeskog | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Martin Necas | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brett Kulak | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Marcus Johansson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kirill Kaprizov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nicolas Roy | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brent Burns | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Colton | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ryan Hartman | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Daemon Hunt | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nazem Kadri | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brock Nelson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Danila Yurov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mats Zuccarello | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Blankenburg | - | - | - | |
| Matthew Boldy | - | - | - | |
| Jack Drury | - | - | - | |
| Brock Faber | - | - | - | |
| STATS COMPLÈTES | ||||