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Colorado Avalanche News

Merkley will draw into the Sharks lineup on Thursday.

Merkley has only played once in the last five games but will replace Radim Simek in the lineup on Thursday. Merkley has scored one goal with one assist in 15 games with the Sharks, playing primarily on the third pair and second power-play unit.

Ryan Merkley
MacKinnon (nose/concussion) will return to the Avalanche lineup on Sunday.

MacKinnon missed four games with a broken nose and a concussion he suffered on January 26th but is set to play on Sunday. MacKinnon, who has nine goals and 34 assists (43 points) in 31 games this season, will be back on the top line with Mikko Rantanen and Gabriel Landeskog.

Nathan MacKinnon
The Penguins have recalled Valterri Puustinen from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL).

Puustinen was a seventh-round pick in 2019 and has scored 13 goals with 14 assists (27 points) in 40 AHL games this season. The 22-year-old is in his first season in North America and could make his NHL debut on Tuesday after Evgeni Malkin was moved to the COVID-19 protocol list on Monday.

Valtteri Puustinen
Merkley will be back in the Sharks lineup on Sunday.

Merkley will replace Mario Ferraro, who was hit in the face by a puck on Saturday. Merkley, who has one goal and one assist in 14 games, will skate with Marc-Edouard Vlasic on the second pairing and should quarterback the second power-play unit.

Ryan Merkley