Avalanche lose Nathan MacKinnon for rest of season with broken foot

Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon will miss the rest of the season with a broken foot.

Nathan MacKinnon’s sophomore season has come to a screeching halt.

The Colorado Avalanche announced Friday that they will have to continue the remainder of the regular season without their reigning Calder Trophy winner, as MacKinnon will be out of commission with a broken foot.

Not sure whether or not the injury occurred during last night’s 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins, in which MacKinnon scored the eventual game winner and played a total of 19:35 on the night. He did block a shot from Penguins’ Daniel Winnik in the third period that he seemed to get stung from, but he could have very well sustained the injury in a previous game. New Jersey Devils defenseman Damon Severson played with a fractured ankle for nearly two weeks before finally getting an x-ray and realizing the injury.

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MacKinnon was struggling a bit with the sophomore slump this year after having a tremendous rookie campaign that saw him earn Rookie Of The Year honors. the 19-year old forward has registered 14 goals and 38 points in 64 games this season. Last season, he registered 24 goals and 63 points in 82 games. He also added 2 goals and 10 points in 7 playoff games last year during their first-round loss to the Minnesota Wild.

I’m sure MacKinnon was looking forward to building off a great rookie year, both individually and team-wise. After going from the worst team in the NHL in 2013, to a top-seeded playoff team in 2014, the Avalanche had hopes of building off their disappointing first-round loss last season and going even further in 2015. However, the Avalanche currently find themselves 9 points out of the final wild card playoff spot.

Now, with one of their best offensive weapons done for the year, the already unlikely goal of overcoming that deficit and making the playoffs just became basically impossible.

It could be bit of the sophomore slump that has plagued MacKinnon this season, which happens to a lot of young players as they learn how to stay consistent with their game and learn how to adjust to opposing teams keying in on them. However, another big reason for MacKinnon’s down year could be the loss of former line-mate Paul Stastny, who left via free agency this past offseason to the St. Louis Blues. Both MacKinnon and the Avalanche as a whole have dearly missed Stastny this season, as they have struggled offensively all season.

With the Avalanche more than likely missing the playoffs, MacKinnon can simply get the rest and recovery he needs and take his time to make sure he gets back to 100 percent for, hopefully, a much better third year for the Avalanche.

H/T NBC Sports Pro Hockey Talk

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