VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Next week’s final two games of the season against Columbus and Nashville at the Pepsi Center might be relatively meaningless for the Avalanche, which is unlikely to make the playoffs. But those games could mean a tremendous amount to three-time NHL all-star Milan Hejduk, who is considering retirement.

Hejduk, the Avs’ 36-year-old captain and only remaining member of the 2001 Stanley Cup-winning team, was demoted to the fourth line in Wednesday’s 1-0 loss at Vancouver and admitted afterward that his splendid career might end April 7 in the season finale against the Predators.

“It could be. I don’t want to analyze right now, but it definitely could be,” Hejduk said.

Entering tonight’s third-to-last game against the Flames in Calgary, Hejduk hasn’t scored a goal in his past 22 games and has only two in 2012. With only 13 goals all season, he is destined to produce fewer than 20 goals for the first time since his rookie season in 1998-99.

Hejduk played only 9:55 against the Canucks, including 2:43 on the power play. He produced one shot, and might have been scratched if he weren’t captain and the team’s top shootout specialist.

The light-hitting Hejduk does not fit the fourth-line role.

“It is what it is,” Hejduk said of his limited role. “I try to help the team any way I can and leave it all out there, and not worry about anything else.”

Hejduk signed a one-year contract last summer that pays him $3 million this season. He will be an unrestricted free agent July 1 and previously said he doesn’t want to play for another NHL team. He and his wife, Zlatuse, have young twin sons, Marek and David.

Hejduk preferred to talk about the Avs’ effort Wednesday and the previous two weeks of the playoff race than the looming end to a career that includes 370 regular-season goals (plus 34 in the postseason) and the 2003 Rocket Richard Trophy as the NHL’s leading goal-scorer (50 goals) and finalist for the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1999.

“We battled to the end,” Hej- duk said. “We are kind of at the mercy of other teams now. It’s not in our hands right now. The max we can get is 92 points. I don’t know if that’s going to be enough.”

Mike Chambers: 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com

COLORADO AT CALGARY

7 p.m., ALT, 1510 AM/93.7 FM

Spotlight on Jarome Iginla: The Flames captain has reached 30 goals for the 11th consecutive season, and already has amassed 515 goals in a first-ballot Hockey Hall of Fame career. Iginla, 34, remains one of Canada’s finest hockey citizens and will likely be a leader of the country’s 2014 Olympic team in Sochi, Russia.

NOTEBOOK

Avalanche: Semyon Varlamov will make his seventh consecutive start and 13th in the last 14 games. … The Avs are on a four-game losing streak, obtaining just one point during that stretch, since taking a six-game unbeaten streak into Phoenix on March 22. … Colorado is 27-29-5 against Western Conference teams, including 7-14-2 vs. Northwest Division opponents. The Avs finished a sparkling 13-4-1 against Eastern Conference teams. “Looking back, if we don’t get in (the playoffs), our division is what hurt us, for whatever reason,” defenseman Shane O’Brien said. “We didn’t have very good success against our division all year.”

Flames: They are 4-1 against the Avs, losing the last game 2-1 in overtime March 20 in Denver. … Calgary is coming off a 3-0 loss at home Wednesday to the Kings. The Flames, who have won in regulation just once in their past seven games, were booed off the ice. “We’re not out of this yet. We got four games left,” Calgary coach Brent Sutter told reporters Thursday. “You never know what kind of help you may get. Our preparation is to get ready for our next game. Expect (tonight) to be a game that’s going to be intense.” … The Flames begin a home-and-home series with the Canucks on Saturday and finish April 7 against visiting Anaheim.



Mike Chambers, The Denver Post