Calvert and Landeskog Joining Avs on Road Trip

CENTENNIAL, Colo.--Matt Calvert and Gabriel Landeskog practiced with their Colorado Avalanche teammates on Monday for the first time since suffering their respective injuries.
Calvert was a full participant and wore a regular practice jersey while participating in 5-on-5 drills with Nazem Kadri and J.T. Compher. Landeskog donned a red, non-contact sweater and alternated into the skill sessions with the line of Tyson Jost, Vladislav Kamenev and T.J. Tynan.

Calvert has missed the past two weeks and six games with a head injury after being hit by a puck in the closing minutes of the Avs' contest at the Vancouver Canucks on Nov. 16. Landeskog's last game was Oct. 26 versus the Anaheim Ducks, but he suffered his lower-body injury before that outing as the ailment didn't reveal itself until further examination following practice on Oct. 27.
Both players will join the Avalanche on its upcoming three-game road trip, with Calvert possibly returning as soon as Wednesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"In order to come back, you have to go through (concussion) protocol and you have to have a bunch of good days in a row," Calvert said after the day's skate. "This is my first test in practice, we have a travel day tomorrow and day off. As long as the response is good, I'm hoping to be in the lineup as soon as possible."

Landeskog began skating on his own last Tuesday, while Calvert first hit the ice on Thursday.
Bednar said the club has yet to put a timetable on a return for Landeskog, but it could be similar to what they did with Mikko Rantanen last week in his recovery from a lower-body injury. Rantanen had been skating and practicing with the team, but the Avs chose last Saturday's game for his first one back to give the winger some more practice time and avoid playing in both outings of a back-to-back.
"We want to get him in some practices, get him working with the guys and then we'll make a decision on which day we want him to go out," Bednar said of Landeskog. "We'll be in communication with him and we'll make a decision together."
Landeskog has recorded three goals and four assists in 11 games played this season, while Calvert has produced 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 20 contests.

RANTANEN GOOD TO GO

Rantanen didn't practice with the team on Monday, but Bednar said the forward was given a maintenance day and is expected to play on Wednesday at Toronto.
"We just want to make sure that we put him in the best possible situation to succeed," Bednar said. "So if he needs a little time before we go to Toronto then we'll give it to him."
Rantanen returned to the lineup on Saturday after missing 16 games with a lower-body injury. He had a goal and three assists in 10:43 of ice time; he didn't play in the third period as he was held out for precautionary reasons.

OTHER INJURY NEWS

Bednar said Colin Wilson has decided to have surgery to help his recovery from a lower-body injury and is out "long term." Wilson's last game was Oct. 26 versus the Anaheim Ducks. He got hurt during the club's practice on Oct. 29.
Erik Johnson is week-to-week with his lower-body injury and won't make the trip. He's been out for the past three games.
Andre Burakovsky won't travel with the team to Toronto, but Bednar said there is a possibility that he joins midway through the road trip and plays. Burakovsky's last game was Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers, but he wasn't able to finish the game.

PRACTICE LINE COMBINATIONS

Forwards
83 Matt Nieto - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 72 Joonas Donskoi
11 Matt Calvert - 91 Nazem Kadri - 37 J.T. Compher -
13 Valeri Nichushkin - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Logan O'Connor
81 Vladislav Kamenev - 17 Tyson Jost - 36 T.J. Tynan - 92 Gabriel Landeskog \
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
16 Nikita Zadorov - 49 Samuel Girard
48 Calle Rosen - 28 Ian Cole
44 Mark Barberio
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer
39 Pavel Francouz
* Non-contact participant*
Did Not Practice: Andre Burakovsky (upper body), Erik Johnson (lower body), Mikko Rantanen (maintenance), Colin Wilson (lower body)