Darren Helm's season may be over.

The defending Stanley Cup champions have just received what may turn out to be some truly terrible news.

The latest comes to us courtesy of Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar who provided a terrible update on the status of veteran forward Darren Helm on Sunday. According to Bednar it sounds like Helm has re-injured his surgically repaired hip and there is now genuine concern about the remainder of his season.

Bednar confirmed that the injury occurred in the same spot that Helm previously had surgically repaired which is obviously not a good sign for the 35 year old centerman. Helm has appeared in a total of just 5 games all season for the Avalanche as a result of this hip injury, and it is now starting to sound like that number could remain at 5 for the remainder of the 2022-23 campaign.

"Oh, he did. Yeah. No, he did. It's all intertwined," admitted Bednar on Sunday. "Yeah. It's lower body, same type of issues, and so he's getting evaluated. I don't have a timeline on him. It's not going to be anytime soon. I know that."

The head coach did not confirm that Helm would miss the remainder of the season definitively, only that there is a possibility the injury could force him to shut things down.

"It's a possibility," admitted Bednar. "I don't know yet. This injury, you're able to rehab and come back from it, I think, but we have to get more information still."

Of course the main concern here is for Helm's well being, especially at this advanced stage of his career in the National Hockey League. I hope he takes all the time he needs and makes a full recovery from this ongoing injury problem.