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MVP candidate MacKinnon will miss Avs’ next game

San Jose Sharks v Colorado Avalanche

DENVER, CO - JANUARY 18: Nathan MacKinnon #29 of the Colorado Avalanche plays the San Jose Sharks at the Pepsi Center on January 18, 2018 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

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Take a deep breath Avs fans. Franchise center Nathan MacKinnon will miss Thursday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers because of a shoulder injury he suffered last night.

MacKinnon, who is a legitimate Hart Trophy candidate this season, left Tuesday’s game after colliding with Vancouver’s Alexander Edler. Avs head coach Jared Bednar didn’t have a detailed update after the game, but he shed a little more light on MacKinnon’s injury during a radio interview this morning.

“He’s out with an upper body injury... He will not play for us tomorrow... Hopefully it’s not that serious,” Bednar said during a hit with Altitude 950. He also added that MacKinnon is “day-to-day,” which would indicate that the injury isn’t necessarily serious.

Here’s footage of the incident:

The 22-year-old has been the primary reason for Colorado’s turnaround this season. After posting back-to-back 50-point seasons over the last two years, MacKinnon is already up to 24 goals and 61 points in 49 games in 2017-18.

As of this moment, only Tampa’s Nikita Kucherov (64) has more points than MacKinnon.

Losing him for an extended period of time would be a serious blow to Colorado’s playoff chances, as they’re currently one point behind Minnesota for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference (the Avs have a game in hand).

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.