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EJ in contact practice; Donskoi, Burakovsky swap places |
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Rick Sadowski
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News and notes from Avalanche practice Tuesday:
+ Defenseman Erik Johnson, who had shoulder surgery in May, took part in a full contact practice and said he expects to play Saturday in Dallas in the Avalanche’s final preseason game and be ready for the Oct. 3 opener against Calgary.
“It’s been a long battle throughout the last few months, but I’m really excited to get back, back to (being) myself and just ready to play,” he said. “It took a little extra time to make sure it was going good and I feel awesome now.”
The 6-feet-4, 225-pound Johnson was paired with 6-6, 235-pound Nikita Zadorov, who had been nursing a lower-body injury.
“I think me and ‘Z’ playing together, we can hopefully shut down teams’ top lines, be tough to play against and kill penalties and chip in offensively when we can,” Johnson said. “I think it’ll be good. Bigger guy, long stick, and we get along well on and off the ice. It should be a fun pair for us.”
+ Joonas Donskoi was on right wing on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog. Andre Burakovsky was moved to the second line with Nazem Kadri and Tyson Jost.
Coach Jared Bednar has said he wants to give Donskoi and Burakovsky an opportunity on the top line as Mikko Rantanen remains unsigned.
+ Jayson Megna is making a push for a roster spot. He was on the fourth line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Matt Calvert. Megna, 29, was signed July 1 to a one-year, two-way contract as an unrestricted free agent after spending last year with Hershey of the AHL, where he had 43 points (20 goals, 23 assists) in 71 games.
Megna had eight points (four goals, four assists) in 58 games with Vancouver in 2016-17. He has 20 points (10 goals, 10 assists) in 113 NHL games in parts of five seasons with Pittsburgh, the New York Rangers and Vancouver.
Megna has two goals and an assist in three preseason games. He had a shorthanded goal Sunday against Minnesota.
+ Valeri Nichushkin looked pretty good Tuesday while skating on right wing on a third line with Matt Nieto and J.T. Compher. Nichushkin, 24, signed Aug. 19 as a free agent after Dallas bought out the final year of his contract. This is likely the last NHL opportunity for the 6-4, 210-pound forward, who was the Stars’ first-round pick (No. 10) in the 2013 draft. He had 10 assists in 57 games last season.
“We were good friends when we played together since 14 years old on national teams,” Zadorov said of his fellow Russian. “We hung out together all the time. He’s a big body. I think maybe we had a little problem last year size wise up front. He’s going to bring the physicality, that forecheck for us, and also he’s really skilled. He had some struggles scoring, but I think everyone knows what kind of skill he has and what he can bring to this team.”
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