Colorado Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland met with the media on Thursday, alongside captain Gabriel Landeskog.
We learned Landeskog is not retiring, plus heard some updates on the murky future of Valeri Nichushkin. But there was one other piece of news to watch this summer.
MacFarland revealed that forward Artturi Lehkonen is going to have a shoulder procedure this week, and him being ready for training camp in mid-September is not a sure thing.
#Avs GM Chris MacFarland said Artturi Lehkonen is going to have an offseason shoulder procedure and it could be “close” for him to be ready for training camp. He said a lot of other guys had bumps and bruises, but everyone else should be OK for camp.
— Corey Masisak (@cmasisak22) May 23, 2024
Lehkonen was solid once again this year for Colorado, despite a scary hit into the boards that caused him to miss more than two months from November to January.
In 45 regular season games, Lehkonen had 16 goals and 18 assists, good for 34 points. That put him eighth on the team, despite only playing about half the season.
And in the playoffs, “Lehky” added six goals and five assists, totaling 11 points. That was fourth on the team in the postseason, trailing only superstars Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.
Lehkonen became even more important after Nichushkin was suspended for six months before Game 4 against the Dallas Stars. He was heavily relied on to help the puck find the back of the net.
Lehkonen still has three seasons left on his deal with the Avalanche, a fairly team-friendly contract for five years and $22.5 million.
Hopefully, the procedure goes well and he’s out there once training camp rolls around. But MacFarland did say it will be “close,” so it’s something to monitor a few months from now.
