Josh Manson was in Minnesota with the Avalanche on May 9, and the injured defenseman could return as early as Game 3 against the Wild. Colorado was preparing for that game in Minnesota on May 9, with Manson on the trip and the team carrying seven defensemen.
The biggest question before Game 3 was Manson’s status, and the answer was not yet final. He would need to skate that morning and then be discussed by coach Jared Bednar afterward, leaving the Avalanche with one more checkpoint before deciding whether he could play.
That mattered because the Wild were trying to avoid falling behind 3-0 in the series, a hole that would have changed the tone of the matchup immediately. For Minnesota, Game 3 carried more weight than a typical middle game, while Colorado had to balance the chance of getting Manson back against the reality that he was still working through an injury.
The timing also put the update alongside Nathan MacKinnon’s fifth career run at the Hart Trophy, giving the Avalanche another high-profile storyline on a day when the focus still came back to the blue line. If Manson is cleared after the morning skate, Colorado gets a familiar defenseman back at a crucial point; if not, the uncertainty simply rolls into a game the Wild already needed badly.
