Josh Manson to Miss Time After Leaving Avalanche-Devils Game With Lower-Body Injury

Manson’s injury leaves Colorado without a clear timeline

Josh Manson’s injury gives the Colorado Avalanche an immediate defensive question after a win over New Jersey: how long will the veteran defenseman be out, and who fills his place? Coach Jared Bednar said after Wednesday’s game that Manson will miss time, though the team hasn’t provided a more specific timetable or identified the injury beyond “lower body.” For now, Colorado has a definite absence to manage and few details about its likely length.

Manson left in the first period after falling awkwardly along the boards and needed help getting down the tunnel. Colorado ruled him out for the rest of the game. The circumstances prompted speculation that the injury could involve his ankle, but that hasn’t been confirmed, and the club hasn’t described its severity. The visual details of an injury can invite guesses, but they don’t establish a diagnosis or a recovery window.

“He’s going to miss some time,” Bednar said. That’s the clearest update available for now. It rules out an immediate return while leaving open how many games Manson could miss. The next useful details will be whether the team offers a recovery estimate and how it adjusts the defense in the meantime. That distinction matters: a brief absence can be handled internally, while a longer one can affect pairings, workload, and the options available for subsequent games.

Colorado’s defensive options

The Avalanche played most of Wednesday’s game with five defensemen after Manson departed. If he remains unavailable, Noah Juulsen is expected to move into the third pair alongside Brent Burns. That would give Colorado a straightforward option for the next game, but it also asks the staff to make a practical judgment about how to distribute minutes across the remaining group. The lineup can cover a vacancy on paper; the harder question is whether the arrangement holds up over a longer stretch.

For now, there’s no confirmed need for a call-up. The uncertainty comes from the gap between Bednar’s assessment that Manson will miss time and the lack of a return date. A short absence can often be managed by redistributing minutes among the available defensemen; a longer one puts more pressure on the lineup and its depth. Colorado’s next lineup will offer the first indication of how the staff plans to cover the vacancy, though one game won’t settle what the team needs if Manson remains out.

The injury also arrives while the Avalanche are already managing other absences. Nic Roy returned to the lineup Wednesday, while Zachary L’Heureux remained out. Those updates matter to the overall roster picture, but they don’t answer how Manson’s spot will be handled or whether the club has additional defensive help available. Roster availability is a moving calculation, and the staff must weigh the players it has against the demands of each matchup.

A better team performance, with a cost

Colorado’s night against New Jersey was encouraging in one respect: the Avalanche defended with more discipline than they had in their previous game against Nashville. The Devils’ only goal came on a short-handed sequence when Connor Brown scored with 7:39 remaining in the first period. The puck took an unusual route, caroming off Cale Makar’s skate and through goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood. A deflection can turn a broken play into a goal, but it doesn’t erase the sequence that created the chance.

That was the fourth short-handed goal Colorado had allowed this season, according to the source. The play began with a failed pass in the offensive zone during an Avalanche power play, but the final bounce made it an especially unusual concession. Beyond that sequence, Colorado limited New Jersey’s chances and produced a stronger defensive showing. The broader performance is a more useful measure of progress than the odd bounce alone, though the short-handed goal still points to a mistake the team will want to clean up.

The win offered the team some breathing room after the loss to Nashville, but Manson’s departure puts a personnel concern alongside the positive result. His availability matters to the structure of the blue line, and the immediate challenge is to maintain that improved defensive play while adjusting the pairings. This is more significant than it looks: a club can have a solid night defensively and still face a difficult follow-up if an established defenseman is unavailable.

What Manson’s absence could mean next

Colorado is scheduled to face the Calgary Flames on Saturday night, giving the team a few days before its next game. Manson’s status remains uncertain beyond Bednar’s statement that he’ll miss time. Until the club provides a clearer timeline, Juulsen appears to be the likely option to step into the third pair, with the length of Manson’s absence determining whether Colorado needs a broader roster adjustment.

That said, the next game will answer only the immediate lineup question. If you’re watching Colorado’s response, pay attention to how the minutes are shared and whether the third pair stays intact; those choices can show how comfortable the staff is with its available depth. A short-term patch may be enough. If the absence stretches on, the club will have to reassess its options with more than one game in mind (and this is the part most people overlook).

The immediate concern is straightforward: Colorado needs to preserve the defensive improvement it showed against New Jersey while waiting for more information. Bednar’s update confirms that Manson won’t be back right away, but it doesn’t say what comes after that. For now, the staff has a likely replacement and a near-term test. Beyond that, the answer depends on a timeline the team hasn’t supplied. No diagnosis, no return date, and no reason to treat speculation as fact.