Just minutes before the start of last night’s 2-1 loss to the Calgary Flames, the news broke that Colorado Avalanche forward Paul Stastny will miss the remainder of the season with a hairline stress fracture in his leg, the perfect cap on a season that has seen the most man-games lost due to injury in franchise history.
Stastny has suffered a down year, scoring only 57 points on the season (though he has scored 21 goals), far below his career point-per-game average. Though he will only miss five games before the season is over, the parallels between this year and 2008-2009 are now complete. That season, Stastny missed most of the season with a knee injury as Colorado suffered their worst season in franchise history — though the injuries helped them gain a top three draft pick, where they selected Matt Duchene.
With only four games remaining in the season, the Avalanche are essentially locked into a top three pick in the upcoming 2011 NHL Entry Draft this June.