Troubling injury situation forces the Colorado Avalanche to play defenseman at forward tonight

The Avalanche are facing a major challenge with six of their top nine forwards sidelined due to injuries. Now defenseman Oliver Kylington is stepping up to try to help cover the gaps.

Kylington, who signed with the Avalanche this past off-season, likely didn't expect to be switching roles so soon. However following the announcement that Miles Wood is joining Jonathan Drouin, Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen, Ross Colton & Valeri Nichushkin on the injured list the Avalanche have been forced to get creative.

Despite the tough injury situation the Avalanche have managed to stay at a 5-5-0 record over their first 10 games. Head Coach Jared Bednar recently announced the surprising move to place Kylington who is typically a defenseman at forward against the Tampa Bay Lightning. While Kylington has some offensive skills this is uncharted territory for him. Since his NHL debut in 2016 he's only surpassed 30 points once & has yet to record a point this season.

With star players like Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon & Casey Mittelstadt helping keep the Avalanche afloat the team has managed to rebound from a slow start to reach .500. However with no timeline for the return of Landeskog, Drouin, Lehkonen or Nichushkin their path forward remains uncertain. The Avalanche's Stanley Cup hopes are still alive but they'll need a bit of luck & health on their side to stay competitive in the long run.