Coach Jared Bednar indicated Wednesday morning that Cale Makar “will miss some time.” Makar, who left Monday’s game with an upper-body injury, is third on the team in scoring. His 20 goals and 55 assists sit behind only Martin Necas and Nathan MacKinnon. The Calgary native just had his third-best month of the season with the power-play’s recent uptick. What impact will Cale Makar’s absence have on the Colorado Avalanche?

Ice time

Colorado will need a defenseman to fill 24:53 of average ice time each game. Nick Blankenburg steps in for Makar, yet averages 9:08 during three games with the Avs. Ideally, defensemen would share playing time equally. Sam Malinski will bear most of the playing time. Malinski averages only 17:11 of ice time per game, but played a season high of 22:33 on January 16. The former Colorado Eagle is also second in the league for plus/minus, sitting at +41.

Mobility and puck movement

We can all be honest here and admit that no one can skate like Makar does. So it will be tough for the Avalanche, already struggling to exit the zone, to find someone who can move the puck as Makar can. Malinski may be the closest the Avs will have for the time being. I have seen sparks of stylistic skating from Malinski when he was with the Eagles, but not as often as Makar.

Makar has been playing at the top of the power-play formation, like most of his career. He connects the left and right sides, often taking a shot when the lanes are clear. The recent uptick in the man advantage has benefited Makar the entire month of March. Of the 15 points Makar had in March, nine of them came on the power-play (2g/7a). The hope will be that Malinski can pick up the workload, but remains to be seen. He has run the power play during his brief time in Loveland with some success. But Malinski has never run the power play at the NHL level.

It should only be a short time that Makar will be out of the Avalanche lineup. With the Avalanche fighting for the top-seed in the conference, every game is now key. Especially with the Dallas Stars coming up on Saturday. But the Avs have managed without Makar before; they can do it again. This will be a test to see how Sam Malinski handles himself and is ready to step up.