Board Thread:False Info and Speculative Discussion/@comment-26828324-20150730184926/@comment-4091815-20150805051131

Again, according to the published reports, he would not have appeared in the first six episodes of the season and would be in just 12 total of the 24 in Season 3.

They weren't planning to replace him but he would not have appeared in the first six episodes or the last six episodes of the season.

Basically the first half of Season 3a (the Alpha Pack episodes) would have played out exactly as they did even if Colton had returned.