Training camp and the new season always bring the hope that the team will begin fully healthy before the war of attrition takes hold. Unfortunately, the toll of a long postseason run to the Stanley Cup victory is still going to linger for the Colorado Avalanche into the 2022-23 campaign as multiple regular forwards were not able to hit the ice with the rest of the squad on day one.
The wounded
Val Nichushkin's absence was pretty much expected after he had surgery on his broken foot sustained in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals and needed a couple of months to recover.