Morning Skate Report: Wilson Set for 600th NHL Game

Colin Wilson has come a long way since he broke into the National Hockey League as a teenager and tonight he prepares to play in a milestone game.
The forward will skate in his 600th contest as the Colorado Avalanche hosts the Vancouver Canucks at Pepsi Center.
Wilson has recorded 271 points (110 goals, 161 assists) throughout his career. The Winnipeg, Manitoba, native was selected seventh overall in 2008 by the Nashville Predators and will become the 13th member of that draft class to reach the milestone.

"I think it is just a cool milestone to hit. I have played in the league a while, but yeah it is just exciting to hit a milestone," he said of the number. "I think there has been a lot of growth along the way, a lot of adversity, and I think that is what makes it exciting to get to 600."
He made his NHL debut when he was 19 years and 357 days old with the Predators on Oct. 12, 2009 against the Edmonton Oilers, becoming the fourth player in Nashville franchise history to skate in his first game as a teenager.
Wilson went on to play in 502 games with the Predators before the Avalanche acquired him on July 1, 2017. Since then, he has suited up in 97 contests with Colorado and has 34 points (17 goals, 19 assists) as a trusted two-way forward.

"It is one of the most close-knit groups that I have ever played for," Wilson said of playing for the Avs. "In having that, I think we have done a good job of holding each other accountable, and I think that is something we also need to work on as a group. We are best friends but you still have to tell your friends when they are off. It's been fun to watch everybody grow."
One of those players he has seen progress in the league is second-year forward Alex Kerfoot. The two have skated on the same line for much of the year and the same will be true tonight against Vancouver. The duo will begin the contest on a trio with Nathan MacKinnon.
"I mean he is just one of those guys who has been around the league for a long time," Kerfoot said of Wilson. "You can tell the way he conducts himself, he is a pro. He has got a lot of experience in this league, he plays hard and the details of his game on the ice are really good. I think that he does a lot of the little things well, which makes it easy to play with him and I have just been fortunate enough to be on his line for a good chunk of the season."
At 29 years old, Wilson is in his 10th NHL season and has skated in more games than every other Avalanche player except defenseman Erik Johnson (685 games).
"All of a sudden I was an old guy in the locker room. It happened really quickly, the league got younger and I got older," Wilson said. "Just to play a role in supporting other players, being a bit more calm-headed myself and just going out there and playing my game every night."
So far this campaign, Wilson has 16 points (nine goals, seven assists) in 41 outings and has already surpassed his goal total from last season when he had six in 56 games.

BACK FROM BREAK

The matchup with Vancouver will be the first since Jan. 23 for Colorado as the team has been off for the NHL All-Star Break and its bye week.
It is the second time the clubs will meet this campaign and the first of two in Denver, as they will finish the season series at Pepsi Center on Feb. 27. The first outing came on Nov. 2 at Rogers Arena, a 7-6 overtime loss for the Avs.

"We got to do a better job of getting above the puck than we did in that game," said head coach Jared Bednar. "We did some good things on the offensive side of things too, it was almost like whoever shot the puck last was going to win. I thought the offense of both teams were really good."
Tonight's contest also marks the 11th time since moving to Denver that the club will play on Groundhog Day but only the second instance in the past six years. Colorado is 7-2-1 all-time on Feb. 2.

LINEUP NOTES

After the Avs morning skate, head coach Jared Bednar said netminder Semyon Varlamov will start between the pipes for Colorado.
Bednar also confirmed that he will utilize the same lines as from the team's practice on Friday with Nathan MacKinnon centering Alexander Kerfoot and Colin Wilson, and Carl Soderberg on a trio with Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen. The other lines will be Matt Nieto, J.T. Compher and Matt Calvert, and Sven Andrighetto, Sheldon Dries and Gabriel Bourque.
On the blue line, veteran defenseman Erik Johnson will return to game action for the first time since Jan. 19. He missed Colorado's last two games before the break with an upper-body injury (head).
"I find that E.J. takes care of himself and sometimes we have seen with some of his injuries when he comes back, it might be a little bit of a simpler game for him but it might even be a more effective game," said Bednar. "I like the way he plays when he comes out of some of his injuries. He's an experienced guy, and I think he can just pick it up where he left off and hopefully even have a better second half of the year than the first."
View: Avalanche Projected Lineup vs. Canucks