Mikko Rantanen he skated with the Colorado Avalanche for the first time since the start of Phase 2 of the NHL Back to Play Plan at the Pepsi Center on Monday.
The forward suffered an upper body injury on February 17 when the Tampa Bay Lightning defender tripped him. Erik Cernak and he seemed to be holding his left shoulder as he emerged from the ice. Rantanen was projected to be out for weeks before the season stopped on March 12 due to coronavirus-related concerns.
Rantanen scored 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists) in 42 games. He missed 16 games with an ankle injury (Oct. 25-Nov. 29).
The Avalanche was 42-20-8 (.657 percentage points) and will enter the Stanley Cup Qualifiers as one of the top four teams in the Western Conference. They will play a round-robin against the St. Louis Blues (42-19-10, .662), Vegas Golden Knights (39-24-8, .606) and Dallas Stars (37-24-8, .594) to determine sowing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The start date and central city have not been determined.
As long as health and safety conditions allow and the NHL and NHL Players’ Association agree on Phases 3 and 4 of the Return to Play Plan, the training camps will begin on July 10.
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