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Colorado Avalanche at Winnipeg Jets

Wed Oct 76:30 PM CTESPN+Winnipeg, MB
By JR·2 min read
Avalanche(2-0-0)
Jets(1-0-1)
Wednesday 10/076:30 PM

TLDR: Colorado has scored 14 goals in 2 games to open the season, and on Wednesday it visits a Winnipeg team playing without the goalie it has leaned on for a decade. Connor Hellebuyck isn't hurt. He's suspended, and that is the story hanging over this one.

WED OCT 7, 6:30 PMESPN+
Avalanche
(2-0-0)
WW
Jets
(1-0-1)
WL

Colorado has outscored the Kings and Blues 14-5 to start the season and visits a Winnipeg team without Connor Hellebuyck, who is suspended after asking for a trade and skipping camp. The Jets play at Detroit and Pittsburgh before this game, so their form and goaltending picture will look different by Wednesday. The Avalanche play at Calgary the next night, which makes their own goalie choice part of the story.

Colorado Avalanche
  • 14 goals in 2 games, power play producing
  • Toews, Schwartz, Kadri all multi-point in opener
  • Faces a Jets crease without Hellebuyck
  • Front half of a back-to-back, Calgary next night
  • Blackwood/Wedgewood split still unsettled
  • O'Connor and L'Heureux out, bottom-6 thinner
Winnipeg Jets
  • Tuesday off before this game, Avs travel next day
  • Home ice at Canada Life Centre
  • Hellebuyck suspended, return listed no earlier than Oct. 17
  • Brown, Duehr, Salomonsson all on non-roster IR
  • Detroit-Pittsburgh road back-to-back right before this

Here's what happened to Winnipeg's goaltending. Hellebuyck asked for a trade, didn't report to training camp, and the Jets suspended him on September 16. He's 5 years into a 7-year, $59.5 million extension and wants to go to an American market. Winnipeg is in no hurry to accommodate him, and his return date on the injury report is listed as October 17. That means whoever stands in the Canada Life Centre crease Wednesday is facing a Colorado team that hasn't shown much sympathy for goalies so far.

The Avalanche opened with an 8-4 win over Los Angeles. Devon Toews, Jaden Schwartz and Nazem Kadri all had multi-point nights, and the power play put up a pile of assists. Then they beat St. Louis 6-1. Jared Bednar signed a 4-year extension through 2030-31 the morning of the opener, so the bench is settled. The net is the open question: Mackenzie Blackwood won the opener, but Colorado hasn't settled on how it splits starts between him and Scott Wedgewood.

That question gets answered by the schedule. Colorado plays at Calgary on Thursday, the night after this game, so Bednar has to decide which goalie gets Winnipeg and which gets the Flames. Expect a split, and don't count on the Avs announcing it until the morning skate. Puck drop in Winnipeg is 6:30 PM CT.

Colorado Avalanche
(2-0-0)
10/04WvsBlues6-1
10/01WvsKings8-4
Winnipeg Jets
(1-0-1)
10/04W@Red Wings3-2
10/03LvsBruins3-4

Winnipeg has played only 1 game as of Sunday, a 4-3 home loss to Boston, which was also missing a star (Charlie McAvoy). The Jets' week gets busy before Colorado arrives: they play at Detroit on Sunday and at Pittsburgh on Monday, then fly home. Those 2 road games will decide how this one looks. They'll set how the Jets' goaltending is holding up without Hellebuyck, what shape the team is in after a back-to-back, and whether the season-opening loss turns into a slide or gets forgotten. The Jets get Tuesday off before Wednesday's game, and the Avs are the ones playing the next night.

Neither injury list is light. Colorado starts the season without Logan O'Connor and Zachary L'Heureux, both out with lower-body injuries according to Colorado Hockey Now. That takes away some bottom-6 bite but doesn't touch the group that's been scoring. Winnipeg's list is longer: Garrett Brown, Walker Duehr and young defenseman Elias Salomonsson are all on non-roster IR, along with Hellebuyck. The Jets' depth chart and their crease both look different this week than they did last spring.

So the matchup comes down to a simple question. Can Winnipeg's structure hold up against a Colorado attack that's scoring at will, without the goalie who used to cover for every mistake? The Avs look sharp, and they might have their backup in net. The Jets will have 2 more games behind them by puck drop and a chance to show the Boston loss was a one-off.