The forward will miss his fourth game because of a concussion and facial fracture sustained Jan. 26 when the Avalanche play the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday (9 p.m. ET; ALT, BSSUN, ESPN+, NHL LIVE).
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said MacKinnon skated on his own Tuesday. It was his first time on the ice since he was injured.
"We wanted to give him the time through the (All-Star) break to make sure he was feeling good so when we came out of the break, he can start ramping up to play," Bednar said. "We got into the break and we kind of started targeting Sunday for his return date. Now everything's going to have to go smoothly and he's going to have to make the right steps here over the next few days in order to be ready to go.
"We were hoping it could be Tampa on Thursday, but as we got into the break we kind of felt that maybe he'd need a little bit more time."
MacKinnon was injured during the first period of a 4-3 overtime win against the Bruins. He collided with Boston forward Taylor Hall, and MacKinnon's stick was knocked into his face. MacKinnon needed surgery on his nose.
The injury kept MacKinnon out of the 2022 Honda NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas on Saturday. He had been voted captain for the Central Division.
MacKinnon is fifth on the Avalanche with 43 points (nine goals, 34 assists) in 31 games. Among NHL players with at least 30 games this season, he's fourth with an average of 1.39 points per game.
Goalie Pavel Francouz missed practice Tuesday because of travel issues.
The Avalanche (32-8-4) are 9-0-1 in their past 10 games and lead the Central Division.
