It turns out the knee injury that cost the Avalanche star forward Nathan MacKinnon the last 10 games of the season was worse than he initially thought.

MacKinnon revealed Saturday that he suffered a left MCL sprain and couldn’t have played even if the Avs made the playoffs.

He said he gave it a shot to see if he could help the Avs in their playoff push but quickly realized that it simply wasn’t feasible.

“It’s not feeling great at all right now,” MacKinnon said. “You’ve got to be careful, because it could really mess up your knee if you push it.”

MacKinnon will not need surgery on his knee, but he wasn’t sure if he would be able to play for Canada in the upcoming world championships.

“If I can, I’d definitely be interested. But I definitely want to be pretty cautious,” said MacKinnon, who has played in the tournament twice, winning last year.

He spoke to the media for the first time since suffering the injury March 18 at Calgary, expressing frustration for ending the year on the bench for the second consecutive season. MacKinnon felt his faceoff opponent jumped into his knee when they got tangled up and caused it to cave in.

No immunity for Avs players

Captain Gabe Landeskog was candid about his performance and what to expect next season.

“There’s going to be some changes, I’m sure, and there are going to be some consequences,” Landeskog said. “I don’t believe anybody is safe in this room when it comes to maybe being moved.”

Landeskog admitted he didn’t play up to his potential this season and plans to watch games in the offseason reflecting on how to get better. He said the whole team must avoid sugarcoating the disappointing season.

Cameron Wolfe, The Denver Post