The Colorado Avalanche will begin its quest for a second Stanley Cup championship in three years without a significant player in the lineup.
Jonathan Drouin, one of the comeback stories of the NHL season, will miss the first-round series against the Winnipeg Jets with a lower-body injury, the Avs announced Saturday. Game 1 is Sunday night at Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.
“We’re missing a top-six forward that helps produce offense,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “Really responsible checking player too, but when you’re talking about a team that is tough to produce offense against and you pull one of your top five, six players out of the lineup in that regard it’s a big loss. It’s a huge loss.”
Drouin set a career-high with 56 points this season after signing a bargain one-year contract this past offseason with the hopes of re-establishing his value in the league. That decision worked out great for both sides during the regular season, but Drouin left Game No. 82 with an injury during the second period against the Edmonton Oilers and did not return.
After six years with his hometown Montreal Canadiens did not go as he had hoped, Drouin joined the Avalanche this past offseason and reunited with former junior teammate Nathan MacKinnon. Drouin’s season started slow, with one point in 10 games and a healthy scratch, but he eventually became one of Bednar’s most-trusted two-way forwards.
Drouin has become a staple on the top power-play unit and spent a large chunk of the season playing next to MacKinnon on the top line. He is the Denver chapter of the PHWA’s nomination for the Masterton Trophy, an award given to someone who best exudes dedication to hockey, perseverance and sportsmanship.
The Avalanche were completely healthy at forward going into Game 82. Defenseman Samuel Girard missed the last two games of the regular season because he is in concussion protocol, but participated in practice Saturday.
As a reminder, Bednar recently said captain Gabe Landeskog is “not close” to returning. He has skated on his own, but has not practiced with the team. The timeline for Landeskog’s injury is 12-16 months, and Bednar said his captain will not play under any circumstances before that. This puts the earliest Landeskog could play at mid-May.
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