Noah Juulsen received playing time as a winger when Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar used seven defensemen early in the season, but now he’ll get some significant run in his natural position.
With veteran defenseman Josh Manson expected to miss up to eight weeks with an ankle injury sustained in Wednesday night’s win over New Jersey, Juulsen is the next man up. He could be paired with Brett Kulak when the Avalanche host the Calgary Flames on Saturday night in Denver.
Juulsen, 29, signed a two-year, $2.2 million deal with Colorado in the summer and has an assist in eight games this season. Seven of those games he was the seventh defenseman deployed as a forward, but he’ll get a long look as a blueliner.
“He’s played really well for us,” Bednar said. “He’s been a really nice surprise for me. I knew him a little bit, but you never really know what a guy’s capable of or what his strengths are until you kind of see him in your organization, in your system and around the room. I love his attitude. He wants to do anything he can to help. He’s a real positive guy, and he’s played great for us.”
On Saturday, Colorado will be playing its third game in seven days. The Avalanche have stumbled of late, losing three of four games before rebounding to beat the Devils 5-2 at home. Saturday night will be part of a stretch in which they play four of six in Denver ahead of a four-game road trip.
Center Nathan MacKinnon continues to set the pace for Colorado with 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) and Artturi Lehkonen leads the team with 10 goals. Mackenzie Blackwood has played well in net, posting a 6-3-0 record with a 2.81 goals-against average in nine games.
Calgary’s goaltending took a hit with the injury to Devin Cooley, suffered in a 4-0 loss at Edmonton on Wednesday night. Cooley was hurt when he collided with Oilers forward Colton Dach, and after the game he posted on social media that he was a “fast healer,” indicating he would miss some time.
The Flames placed Cooley on injured reserve on Friday morning and called up Arsenii Sergeev from the AHL Calgary Wranglers. Dustin Wolf, who has been backing up Cooley, got the start against Seattle on Friday night.
He made 20 saves in Calgary’s 6-2 win over the Kraken, his first win since Oct. 13 against the Anaheim Ducks.
Cooley had started five straight games and posted a 2.69 goals-against average in seven appearances this season.
“We would say he’s week-to-week, I guess is what I would say,” head coach Ryan Huska said of Cooley.
Wolf began the season as the Flames’ top goaltender but struggled. He has a 4.39 goals-against average this season.
Calgary also will be without forward Brennan Othmann against the Avalanche. He is suffering from an upper-body injury but Huska classified the left winger as “day-to-day,” and Calgary recalled William Stromgren from the Wranglers.