The 34-year-old defenseman sustained the injury while blocking a shot in the first period of a 5-3 win against the Florida Panthers on Feb. 11.
"He's going to miss some time," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said following a 4-3 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. "I don't have a tight timeline on him, but he's out indefinitely and it'll be some weeks."
Johnson has seven assists in 51 games this season and is second on the team in hits (96) and blocks (78).
When asked if he could return prior to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Bednar said, "Not sure."
Along with Johnson, Colorado also played a 6-5 overtime win against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday without defenseman Cale Makar, who is in concussion protocol.
"He understands it because he's been through it before," Bednar said. "We'll keep an eye on him and see how it goes. Unfortunately, it's not just a nose that kept him out this time. It was sort of a delayed response. We had him scheduled to play that game against Edmonton and he wasn't able to do it. We'll just monitor him and hope for a speedy return, but it won't be the two games this weekend."
Makar had missed four games with a head injury before returning against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday, when he played 21:27 in a 4-1 win.
Gabriel Landeskog, who has not played this season after having arthroscopic knee surgery on Oct. 20, will begin skating alone in Denver tomorrow. Landeskog, Colorado's captain, was expected to be out 12 weeks.
Colorado (31-19-5), which has won three in a row, is currently third in the Central Division, four points behind the Winnipeg Jets for second.
