Colorado Avalanche
Miles Wood will travel with the Avalanche on their upcoming road trip and could play against the Boston Bruins on Saturday (1 p.m. ET; NHLN, NESN, ALT, SN, TVAS).
“He’s coming on the trip, yeah. So hopefully everything goes smoothly,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said after practice Thursday. “Tomorrow, we’re just meeting at the plane. Pregame skate in Boston. We’ll make our decision then, see if he’s good to go for Boston.”
Wood has missed the past 26 games with a back injury.
“Right before playoffs last year, I kind of dealt with it, and then the offseason came and I felt great because I wasn’t playing hockey. And then it just kind of sparked up again,” Wood said. “It’s very frustrating because I thought it was healed and then I tweaked it again, and then kind of went back to square one. So hopefully I don’t have to deal with that again.”
The forward was a full participant in practice on Thursday, skating on the fourth line with center Juuso Parssinen and forwards Jere Innala and Chris Wagner.
“Probably ease him in a little bit here. He’s been out a long time,” Bednar said. “That’s only his, I think, second practice with our team, just because we’ve had all these days off, and I think the last one was last week. So it’s been long enough that he’s been feeling good enough to join our team, but we just haven’t had a bunch of skates, just with the schedule.
“So I wish he’d been with our team for another five, six skates, even, but he’s feeling good. I’d rather have him in the lineup, even if it’s limited minutes.”
Wood has three points (two goals, one assist) in 16 games this season, his second with the Avalanche after signing a six-year contract on July 1, 2023. He also missed seven games earlier this season with an upper-body injury.
“I hope to be back [at] 100 percent, but knowing back problems and talking to players that have dealt the same thing, it’s going to be something I’ll have to take care of throughout probably the rest of my career,” he said. — Ryan Boulding
