"I don't have a timeframe exactly," Bednar said of a possible return date for Bellemare. "We'll see how he progresses and what he is able to do off the ice, but he's going to miss some time."
In his second season with Colorado, Bellemare had played in each of the first eight contests to the campaign while centering the team's fourth line.
In 2019-20, Bellemare set new career highs in goals (nine), assists (13) and points (22) and led the Avalanche with 53 takeaways. He has 87 points (38 goals, 49 assists) and five short-handed goals in 462 career NHL contests.
Forward Matt Calvert (upper body) and goaltender Pavel Francouz (lower body) are also currently out indefinitely, and Devon Toews' status for Colorado's next game at the Minnesota Wild on Saturday has yet to be determined after the defenseman blocked a shot off his foot on Thursday.
The Avalanche made a couple roster transactions before heading to Minnesota, with the team recalling forwards Shane Bowers and Sheldon Dries and defenseman Jacob MacDonald from the American Hockey League's Colorado Eagles to the club's taxi squad for the trip. The Avs' taxi unit also presently includes defenseman Greg Pateryn, wing Logan O'Connor and goalie Adam Werner.
"Obviously we got some guys banged up here right now with Bellemare being out last night, Toews took a shot in his foot, don't know his status yet. Calvert, Francouz, all those guys are out," Bednar said. "So whenever we go on the road, we are going to load up that taxi squad so we have enough guys in case something happens on the road with injuries."
Saturday's contest at Minnesota is the first of four-straight between the clubs and the first half of a back-to-back set over the weekend. The two division foes will complete their four-game series on Tuesday and Thursday at Ball Arena.
