Avalanche place defenseman Josh Manson on IR

The injury list continues to grow for the Avalanche as the team confirmed to Bennett Durando of The Denver Post that defenseman Josh Manson has been placed on injured reserve retroactive to Thursday. He has left the team to be re-evaluated and is listed as week-to-week.

The 31-year-old is in his first full year with the Avs after being acquired in a trade near the deadline from Anaheim last season. After being a top-four defender with Anaheim, Colorado has opted to use Manson in a bit of a lower role so far as he’s logging just shy of 17 minutes per game (a career low) through his first 21 contests. Despite that, he has chipped in with six points while averaging more than two hits per contest.

Andreas Englund, who was recalled from AHL Colorado yesterday, is taking Manson’s spot on the active roster.

The defending Stanley Cup champions have been hit hard by the injury bug this season. Gabriel Landeskog and Darren Helm are on LTIR while Valeri Nichushkin, Kurtis MacDermid, and Shane Bowers will join Manson on injured reserve. Meanwhile, Evan Rodrigues and Bowen Byram are also currently injured but remain on Colorado’s active roster. In spite of all the injuries, the Avalanche enter Saturday's game against Boston with 27 points in 21 games, good enough to place them third in the Central Division.