Avalanche News
Jonathan Drouin Out Week-to-Week with Upper-Body Injury
The Colorado Avalanche and Jonathan Drouin just can’t catch a break. The 29-year-old forward is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Head coach Jared Bednar said what Drouin is dealing with is part of what kept him out for five weeks.
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The Ste-Agathe, Quebec native returned on Nov. 15 and lost his first game back but won the next three. He scored two goals and had two assists in the short stint he was back in the lineup. He played on the top power-play unit and averaged 20:40 time on ice in the five games he played all season.
โSometimes unfortunate things happen in hockey and sports, injuries, but trying to battle without him. Heโs a good player, but weโve been in this situation before, so itโs nothing new to us,” Mikko Rantanen said.
The rotating lineup for the team started from the get-go this season without Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin. Drouin was injured in the first game of the season. Ross Colton broke his foot on Oct. 28 and Miles Wood was injured in the same game.
Lehkonen sparked the team upon his return on Nov. 5 who won four of its next five games. Nichushkin and Wood returned in the same game as Drouin โ a 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals.
โI think every experience you have, the next one comes, itโs easier to adapt and you know what to expect and how itโs going to be. So for us, itโs been since Iโve been here the whole time โ nine, 10, years. I donโt know whatโs going on, but itโs crazy, injuries and stuff. We lose guys โ I donโt know if itโs bad luck, but hopefully you can stay healthy after he comes back and hopefully (Ross) Colton come back soon too.”
The Latest on Ross Colton’s Return Timeline
Colton is four weeks into his six- to eight-week timeline and skated for the first time on Wednesday.
“He had the check-up yesterday morning. Things are looking good. He’s progressing well. He’s able to skate now lightly on his own, and then there’ll be a pain tolerance thing. And as you know, with the lower body injury, the conditioning is going to be a factor,” Bednar said. “So hopefully he can continue to do more and more on the ice as this week goes along, and then we can get him up to speed, and hopefully by the time he gets cleared, he’s good to go.”
Colton played on the top line with Nathan MacKinnon and Rantanen during Drouin’s absence and notched nine points in 10 games. He is second on the team for power-play goals with four, one behind Rantanen.
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Bummer all the way around for everyone.
Once colton comes back he will slide to 2nd line.
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lol awesome
Sorry no refund. Not our fault you have 2nd thoughts.
Sorry, but this is going to be the norm for Drouin. Heโs an injury prone player nearing 30 and the backside of his career. I love the way heโs fit in with the Avs. But expect him to be in and out of the lineup for the rest of his time, however long, with the Avs and beyond.
I don’t think his age has much to do with it. With that said he’s battled significant injuries his entire career. Which is one reason why I wasn’t on board with a lot of fans who wanted to give him a 4 – 5 year deal in the off – season.
He’s proven he fits perfectly within the Avs system & tempo. And has expanded his game & been a solid 200 foot player. But you can’t ever trust he’ll stay in the lineup.
With the emergence that colton can play top 6 i think he would replace drouin next year.
Then you have Ritchie next year trying to make it, then wood LOC Kelly Ivan prishchepov kovalenko etc all bottom 6 players
I mean top 6 is pretty set if and once they resign rantenen but they def gotta try and upgrade the bottom 6.
I think it depends on the #. And how much he actually plays this year & the type of playoff run he & the team has. But I agree overall, he’s replaceable. But then you have to also factor in does Nuke stay in the lineup & not implode his career? What ends up being the resolution with the Landeskog situation. All of it makes my head hurt lol.
For one landeskog is never coming back. 2 if nuke implodes that just means they have 6 million more on cap space. Cause once nuke messes up and if he does then he’s terminated.
So say nuke gets terminated then you still
Have Lekhonen mack rantenen as one line.
Then colton Mittlestadt
The question is do you sign a top 6 winger or middle six winger and give kovalenko a bigger responsibility on 2nd line
Given neither Drouin nor Colton is available now, the idea of a ‘fixed’ top six for this team may be antiquated. We need 7 or 8 guys that can play and hope healthiness forces hard decisions. The most important ability of any player is ‘availability’.
Kovalenko will be a top-6 guy in a couple seasons.
Kovalenko needs to play middle six minutes instead of 4th line minutes
Being an injury prone player throughout his career, age has everything to do with him coming back time and time again. Itโs much tougher as you get older. The body does not heal as fast. Rehab takes longer. Like an older car, you fix one thing and another thing breaks. Iโm a Drouin fan. Heโs resurrected his career here with Mac. Tough break but like you say, with no guarantees that he stays in the lineup, a long term contract doesnโt make sense with the Avs or any other team.
How about this.
Mack mittelstadt rantenen
Lekhonen colton nuke
Kovalenko ivan Robertson
Kelly lorentz LOC
Toews makar
Girard manson
De haan malinski
Benning ludvig
Georgiev
Primeau
Sorry, no. 1. Colton isn’t available. 2. You want to take the best set-up man in the league and put him on the wing? Matt Benning and Cayden Primeau? Are you playing fantasy hockey? Wood/Mac/Mikko until Landy or Drouin is available. Leave Lekky/Mittelstadt/Nuke alone to gel.
Colton is a top 6 wing, not a 2C and his talent is wasted at 3C. Mac and Mitts are centers. Rantanen is also a wing and is less effective as a 2C.