Josh Manson is expected to miss about eight weeks with an ankle injury, Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Friday.

Manson left the Avs’ 5-2 win Wednesday night at Ball Arena against the New Jersey Devils during the first period after an awkward fall near Colorado’s bench. The 35-year-old Manson has a goal and four points in 13 games. He’s been the club’s most consistent physical presence on the blue line since he arrived ahead of the trade deadline in 2022.

With Manson out, offseason addition Noah Juulsen should get an extended run in the lineup. He skated with Brett Kulak at practice Friday, where Manson started Wednesday.

“It’s definitely different,” Juulsen said, talking about picking up the nuances of Colorado’s system. “But I think coming in early for camp and being with everyone and getting to know the systems and everything like that helped. It’s not a tough adjustment. There’s a lot of guys here helping you out, giving you pointers here and there. I think it’s been great.”

Juulsen signed a two-year, $2.2 million contract with the Avs on July 1. The 29-year-old spent last season with Philadelphia after stints with Vancouver, Florida and Montreal. He played 52 games last season with the Flyers, the second-most in his career.

Colorado brought back all six defensemen from last season, so Juulsen was clearly the No. 7 guy when he signed, but the Avs have played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen several times this year.

In total, Juulsen has played eight games. If the Avs had played with a traditional 12-6 lineup, Juulsen might have only played one game to this point, the night Sam Malinski was a healthy scratch.

Juulsen has one assist and has averaged 10:38 of ice time, which should increase quite a bit with Manson out of the lineup.

“He’s played really well for us,” Bednar said. “He’s been a really nice surprise for me. I knew him a little bit, but you never really know what a guy’s capable of or what his strengths are until you kind of see him in your organization, in your system and around the room. I love his attitude. He wants to do anything he can to help. He’s a real positive guy, and he’s played great for us.

“We’ve had a lot of years here where we just had six ‘D’ and our seventh is a recall guy. It’s nice to have him here because he’s with our group every day. There’s no bringing guys up to speed. He just jumps right in and continues to play well.”