Projected Lineup: Avalanche vs. Blues

Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said the team's lineup for tonight's game against the St. Louis Blues will be a "blender" of combinations.
Valeri Nichushkin will miss his first game of the year as he is week-to-week with an upper-body injury that he sustained during Wednesday's season opener against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Nathan MacKinnon remains in COVID protocol, and the team announced Saturday morning that defenseman Jack Johnson is also in protocol.

Gabriel Landeskog will not be available as he serves the first of his two-game suspension this evening.
The Avs recalled forwards Dylan Sikura and Stefan Matteau from the American Hockey League's Colorado Eagles and sent down rookie Alex Newhook on Friday afternoon.
"Put it this way, it's going to be a blender. You can go through the roster of the guys we got here, some of our top guys will get extra ice and it maybe a blender from the start here tonight," Bednar said this morning. "There's a lot of question marks. I will get a feel for the bench and how everyone is going. We have a good idea on what we'd like to do and option B and C also in there."
Kurtis MacDermid will make his Avalanche debut tonight, skating with the squad for the first time since being acquired this past summer.
Forwards Darren Helm and Andre Burakovsky participated in morning skate after missing practice on Friday and are both expected to play in tonight's matchup.
Darcy Kuemper was the first goaltender off the ice from the Avs' morning skate and is expected to start after making 32 saves in the season opener on Wednesday.
Below is Colorado's projected lineup with MacDermid in Johnson's previous spot and Burakovsky slotted in to the top line. The forward combinations and defensive pairings are expected to change.
Forwards
95 Andre Burakovsky - 91 Nazem Kadri - 96 Mikko Rantanen
17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher - 75 Sampo Ranta
43 Darren Helm - 12 Jayson Megna - 25 Logan O'Connor
9 Dylan Sikura - 22 Stefan Matteau
Defensemen
49 Samuel Girard - 8 Cale Makar
4 Bowen Byram - 6 Erik Johnson
56 Kurtis MacDermid - 28 Ryan Murray
Goaltenders
35 Darcy Kuemper
31 Jonas Johansson
Injury Report: Pavel Francouz (lower body), Jack Johnson (COVID protocol), Nathan MacKinnon (COVID protocol), Valeri Nichushkin (upper body), Devon Toews (upper body)