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Jonathan Drouin

Avalanche Activate Ross Colton, Place Jonathan Drouin On IR

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The Avalanche will welcome back an important forward tonight as the team announced (Twitter link) that forward Ross Colton has been activated off LTIR.  To make room for him on the active roster, winger Jonathan Drouin has been moved to injured reserve retroactive to November 23rd.

Colton will make his return versus Detroit tonight after missing the last 17 games.  The 28-year-old was shifted to LTIR earlier this week but since it was retroactive to late October when he first sustained his foot injury, he has already missed the required 10 games and 24 days to return to the lineup.

Before being injured, Colton was off to a hot start with eight goals and an assist while logging 18:38 per game, more than five minutes higher than his career average ATOI.  He’s expected to start on the second line but head coach Jared Bednar has indicated that he wants to move Colton onto the top line in the near future.

As for Drouin, he has missed the last two weeks due to an upper-body injury but has been skating in recent days.  The retroactive placement for him means he’s already missed the required seven days to return to the lineup so as soon as he’s cleared by team doctors, he can be activated.

His second season with the Avs hasn’t gone as well as his first.  After putting up 19 goals and 37 assists for a career-best 56 points in 2023-24, Drouin’s upper-body injury troubles have limited him to just five games so far.  While he has been relatively productive in those with two goals and two assists, this certainly hasn’t been the start to the season he has wanted, especially with it being another contract year after inking a one-year, $2.5MM deal to return to the Avs in free agency back in the summer.

Avalanche Issue Multiple Injury Updates

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The season has brought a never-ending string of injuries for the Colorado Avalanche. They’re facing absences to five different players – including Gabriel Landeskog and Ross Colton, who are each on injured reserve, and Jonathan Drouin, who is week-to-week. Unfortunately, their injury list is only going to grow longer – with Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports sharing that Oliver Kylington is day-to-day, Josh Manson is week-to-week, and Miles Wood is month-to-month. All three players are dealing with upper-body injuries.

Manson’s injury is the most pressing of the new set. The top-four defender left the team’s Friday loss to Dallas in the second period after falling awkwardly into the boards. He dropped his gloves immediately and seemed to be favoring his wrist or hand. Manson has been a key piece of the Avalanche blue-line with reliable depth injured around him. He averaged nearly 20 minutes of ice time through five games before injury, recording one assist and seven shots on net in the role. Manson’s season-long stat line sits at six points, 16 penalty minutes, and a team-leading 51 hits in 24 games. He was replaced on Saturday by John Ludvig, playing in just his sixth game of the season. Ludvig has two points and 11 hits this season – putting him on pace to rival Manson’s stats across 24 games, if he keeps up this pace of points and hits.

Kylington’s injury is also new. Kylington seemed to sustain the injury in Colorado’s Wednesday win over Vegas. He didn’t play in either game this weekend, and is now confirmed as needing a bit more time until he’s back to full health. Kylington has two points, four penalty minutes, and a -2 through eight appearances this season. He’s been a depth defender at-best when the lineup calls on him, but Manson joining the list of injuries could open more of a role if Kylington returns soon.

The injuries to the forward group are old news by this point. Drouin’s upper-body injury is technically new, suffered on November 27th, though it returns him to an inactive list that he’s already spent three weeks on this season. Drouin suffered what’s believed to be a separate upper-body injury in Colorado’s season opener, and was placed on injured reserve from October 20th to November 14th. He’s only played in five games this season, but has managed an impressive four points – split evenly – while averaging over 20 minutes of ice time. Miles Wood is in a similar spot, headed to IR from October 28th to November 14th – then reinjuring himself and moving back to the reserve just two weeks later. He’ll now be out for the long-term, depriving Colorado of an impactful depth forward who had three points in 16 games this season.

Colorado already recalled Nikita Prishchepov in response to new injuries, but could also look into a depth defenseman with Manson now out for the foreseeable future. Their best options would likely be veteran depth defenders Jacob MacDonald and Calle Rosen – though both players, and the rest of the Eagles blue-line, are left-handed; the opposite side of right-shot Manson.

Avalanche’s Jonathan Drouin Out Week-To-Week

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10:06 a.m.: With Drouin set to miss extended time once again, the Avalanche announced they’ve recalled first-year pro Chase Bradley from AHL Colorado. Bradley, 22, has three goals and an assist in 17 games after signing an entry-level deal with the Avs over the summer. Drafted in the seventh round by the Red Wings in 2020, Detroit decided to forego his signing rights after Bradley opted to turn pro after his junior year with the University of Connecticut.

Paper transactions demoting Nikolai Kovalenko and Ivan Ivan were also reversed, bringing them back up to the NHL roster ahead of tonight’s game against the Golden Knights. The Avs had an open roster spot for Bradley, so Drouin doesn’t need to land on injured reserve to accommodate his recall.

9:29 a.m.: Avalanche winger Jonathan Drouin will be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury, head coach Jared Bednar said on 92.5 FM Altitude Sports Radio on Wednesday (via Evan Rawal of the Denver Gazette).

Drouin, 29, missed Monday’s 8-2 defeat at the hands of the Lightning with the ailment. It’s unclear when he sustained the injury and if it’s related to the upper-body issue he suffered in the season opener that cost him 16 games.

The Quebec native had just recently returned to action from that previous upper-body issue on Nov. 15. His most recent appearance, a 7-4 win over the Panthers on Saturday, was easily the best performance of his five showings this season. He played a season-high 23:37 and scored twice on four shots, his first two goals of the campaign.

The 11-year veteran now faces another longer-term absence in an injury-riddled 2024-25 campaign for the Avs. They’ve had at least three regular forwards out of the lineup for most games this season, including a brief stretch around Halloween where they were without four of their top five wingers. They were down to just captain Gabriel Landeskog and Ross Colton being unavailable for the past few games, but they’ll again be without a trio of top-nine pieces for the next couple of weeks. Colton isn’t due back until the middle of December after sustaining a broken foot late last month.

Drouin has almost exclusively served as Colorado’s top-line left wing alongside former major junior teammate Nathan MacKinnon in his brief action this season, although he has seen a few reps on the second line alongside Casey Mittelstadt and Valeri Nichushkin. He had four points in five games while averaging a career-high 20:40 per game, on pace for the best year of his career if not for his upper-body injuries.

The third overall pick in the 2013 draft is coming off a career-best 2023-24 campaign, his first in Colorado. He recorded a career-best 37 assists, 56 points, a +12 rating, and 33 blocks en route to receiving a one-year, $2.5MM deal to return to the Avs on July 1.

Rookie Ivan Ivan slid into a top-six role alongside Mittelstadt and Nichushkin with Drouin out on Monday and could continue to do so on a trial basis. The 22-year-old has been passable, with eight points in 22 games to pair with strong possession numbers (54.3 CF%, 52.0 xGF%).

Snapshots: Hurricanes, Boeser, Drouin, Perron, Paul, Romanov

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Already without Frederik Andersen long-term, the Hurricanes won’t have fellow goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov for the time being as he’s now in concussion protocol, meaning their current tandem is Spencer Martin and Yaniv Perets.  To that end, ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports (Twitter link) that Carolina is looking into what options might exist on the trade market.  Andersen is out for at least two more months while Kochetkov’s timeline is less certain.  The Hurricanes are almost right at the salary cap limit per PuckPedia while they do have nearly $2.4MM in LTIR room if needed.  With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if Carolina was looking into players on lower-cost deals to try to give them a small upgrade between the pipes in the short term.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Barring any issues arising from today’s practice, Canucks winger Brock Boeser could return to the lineup on Tuesday in Boston, mentions Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre. The 27-year-old has missed nearly three weeks due to a concussion, putting a strong start to his season on pause.  In his contract year, Boeser has six goals and five assists in a dozen outings so far.
  • Avalanche winger Jonathan Drouin has been limited to just five games this season after missing more than a month due to an upper-body injury. Now, the team announced (Twitter link) that he’s dealing with another upper-body injury, one that kept him out of the lineup against Tampa Bay.  Drouin has been productive when in the lineup as he has two goals and two helpers in his limited appearances so far.
  • Senators winger David Perron was a late scratch for tonight’s game against Calgary due to an upper-body injury, relays TSN’s Claire Hanna (Twitter link). The veteran returned to Ottawa’s lineup a little over a week ago after taking time away when his newborn daughter needed to undergo surgery.  It has been a rough go on the ice for Perron’s first season with the Sens as he has been held without a point for his first nine games of the season.
  • Lightning forward Nick Paul will miss at least this week with the undisclosed injury that has held him out for nearly a week now, notes Erik Erlendsson of Lightning Insider (Twitter link). The 29-year-old had gotten off to a nice start offensively before the injury, notching five goals and eight assists in 17 games while seeing time at both center and the wing.
  • Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov just returned to the lineup after recovering from a nagging injury but was a late scratch tonight. However, it wasn’t a recurrence of the injury as the team announced (Twitter link) that the 24-year-old was scratched due to being sick and is listed as day-to-day.  Romanov has two assists, 27 blocks, and 31 hits in 11 games so far this season.

Avalanche Activate Jonathan Drouin, Miles Wood From IR

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The Avalanche have taken wingers Jonathan Drouin and Miles Wood off injured reserve ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Capitals, the team announced. They reassigned forwards T.J. Tynan and Nikita Prishchepov to AHL Colorado early Thursday morning to create roster space.

Colorado, as previously reported, is also getting Valeri Nichushkin back in the lineup now that he’s served his six-month suspension as dictated by Stage 3 of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. That means three regular forwards – two of them top-six pieces – are coming in to aid an Avalanche group that’s been absolutely decimated by injuries so far in 2024-25.

Drouin, 29, sustained an upper-body injury in the season opener and hasn’t played since. The winger was initially only ticketed to miss a few games but ended up missing over five weeks with the ailment.

Signed as an unrestricted free agent in 2023, Drouin has thrived in Colorado while playing alongside former major junior teammate Nathan MacKinnon. After initially inking a one-year, $825K pact, he recorded career-highs in assists (37), points (56), rating (+12), and ATOI (18:11) in 2023-24. He then signed a one-year, $2.5MM deal shortly after free agency opened this past summer to return to Denver.

For most of the campaign to date, the Avs had been without all of Drouin, Nichushkin, Gabriel Landeskog, and Artturi Lehkonen – leaving them without four of their top five wingers. Now, just Landeskog remains unavailable as he continues to attempt a comeback from the multiple knee surgeries that have kept him out of action since the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. Lehkonen returned to action earlier this month after offseason shoulder surgery and already has six points in five games.

Drouin is expected to make his second appearance of the season on Colorado’s top line alongside MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen. Nichushkin will return in a second-line role alongside Lehkonen and Casey Mittelstadt.

Meanwhile, Wood makes his return to the lineup after missing the last seven games with an upper-body injury. The 29-year-old is in his second season with the Avalanche after inking a six-year, $15MM commitment in free agency in 2023. He had just one goal in 10 games before exiting the lineup but was averaging 13:40 per game, deployment that will allow overtaxed youngsters like Ivan Ivan and Nikolai Kovalenko to face some easier competition along with Drouin’s and Nichushkin’s returns.

After all of today’s moves, the Avs’ active roster stands at the maximum 23 players. They have about $1.185MM remaining in their LTIR pool with Landeskog and Tucker Poolman still on the shelf, so they’ll still need to clear some significant salary if Landeskog and his $7MM cap hit are cleared to return.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Avalanche Reassign T.J. Tynan, Nikita Prishchepov

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The Avalanche returned forwards T.J. Tynan and Nikita Prishchepov to AHL Colorado on Thursday, according to a team announcement.

Tynan and Prishchepov have been subject to numerous paper transactions since the beginning of the month, often being sent to the AHL without actually reporting to the minors purely to maintain maximum roster flexibility and, in Tynan’s case, delay his temporary waiver exemption. However, with Valeri Nichushkin set to make his season debut on Friday against the Capitals after serving his six-month suspension and Jonathan Drouin and Miles Wood potentially returning from their respective injuries, Tynan’s and Prishchepov’s demotions may be more permanent.

Tynan, 32, cleared waivers without incident to begin the season. He posted four assists in six AHL games before getting his first recall of the season on Oct. 30.

The 5’8″, 160-lb pivot made seven appearances for the Avs over three different recalls, posting an assist and four shots on goal while averaging 7:47 per game. Tynan, who has led the AHL in assists for three seasons in a row and was named the league’s MVP in 2020-21 and 2021-22, is on one of the richest two-way deals in the league with a $535K guarantee and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. He re-joined the Colorado organization this summer after spending the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons there.

Meanwhile, the 20-year-old Prishchepov returns to the minors for much-needed development time. Selected in the seventh round of the 2024 draft less than six months ago, Prishchepov became the first player selected in the final round since 2020 to make his NHL debut.

The Russian center played in each of the Avalanche’s last six games. Like Tynan, he was used sparingly and averaged only 7:18 of ice time per game. Head coach Jared Bednar deployed him exclusively on the wing, where he failed to record his first NHL point but managed four shots on goal, one block and nine hits.

Prishchepov, who stands at 6’1″ and 194 lbs, now returns to the AHL, where he had one goal and three assists through his first six professional games. Last season, he posted 67 points in 63 games for the QMJHL’s Victoriaville Tigres in his third and final season of major junior hockey.

The Avalanche now have three open roster spots. That’s enough space to activate Drouin, Nichushkin and Wood from their respective non-roster designations before tomorrow’s game. Clearing Tynan’s and Prishchepov’s combined $1.582MM cap hit also gives them enough space in their LTIR pool to activate Nichushkin.

Snapshots: Avalanche, Olofsson, Bennett, Sprong

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The Avalanche could be close to getting a pair of veteran wingers back in their lineup.  Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette relays that Miles Wood and Jonathan Drouin both took part in practice today with a regular jersey, not a non-contact one.  Wood has missed the last two weeks with an upper-body injury while Drouin sustained an upper-body injury in the season opener last month and hasn’t played since.  Wood has struggled this season with just one goal in ten games while Drouin is coming off a career year that saw him record 56 points in 79 games.  Head coach Jared Bednar was unsure about their availability for Wednesday but it appears they’re back soon; those two along with Valeri Nichushkin (returning on Friday) will give their forward group a sizable boost.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • Golden Knights winger Victor Olofsson has turned a corner in his recovery, head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters including Jesse Granger of The Athletic (Twitter link). However, he won’t suit up on their two-game road trip that begins on Wednesday.  Olofsson has been dealing with a lower-body injury for the last four weeks, pausing what was a strong start to his first season with Vegas as he had three goals in his first four games.
  • The Panthers announced (Twitter link) that forward Sam Bennett missed tonight’s game against New Jersey due to an upper-body injury. The 28-year-old is having a very strong start to his walk year, collecting nine goals and six assists through the first 15 games of the season, a pace that would have him easily eclipse his career bests of 28 tallies and 24 helpers respectively.  The two sides reportedly began extension talks last month.
  • Recently acquired winger Daniel Sprong has not yet reported to the Kraken as he works through visa issues, notes Kate Shefte of the Seattle Times (Twitter link). While he counts against their salary cap while waiting to be cleared, he is not currently taking up an active roster spot.  Sprong has a goal and two assists in nine games this season, those coming with Vancouver before his trade last week.

Central Notes: Colorado Injury Updates, Blackwood, Stankoven, Joseph

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The Colorado Avalanche continue to inch closer toward a healthy roster. Play-by-play announced Conor McGahey reported earlier that Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog were present on the ice during the team’s morning skate while Miles Wood and Jonathan Drouin skated in non-contact jerseys.

The jury is still out on whether Landeskog can return this season but the expectation is that Nichushkin, Wood, and Drouin will return to the lineup over the coming weeks. This would leave Landeskog and Ross Colton as the only formidable top-six talents left on the injured reserve making the deepest rendition of Colorado’s lineup up to this point in the 2024-25 campaign.

Colorado has stayed afloat in the Western Conference thanks to the team’s usual suspects. Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar are all well over a point-per-game production this season, and the Avalanche could start to generate rapid success should the team get closer to fully healthy.

Other Central notes:

  • Staying in Colorado — one of the most disappointing factors for the team this season has been its goaltending. Avalanche netminders have combined for a .868 SV% over 15 contests leading many pundits to believe Colorado will trade for a goaltender. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman spoke about the issue in his latest episode of ’32 Thoughts’ and reiterated that the Avalanche have circled back on San Jose Sharks’ netminder Mackenzie Blackwood. Colorado’s interest in Blackwood, which reportedly spanned back to last season, could have been reignited by the netminder’s recent 44-save shutout against his former team last night.
  • Senior draft writer of the NHL, Mike G. Morreale, recently surveyed the top rookies in the NHL’s Central Division and it’s no surprise that Logan Stankoven of the Dallas Stars is leading the pack. Stankoven currently leads the 2024-25 rookie class with two goals and 12 points in 13 games while averaging top-six minutes. Morreale quoted Stars head coach Peter DeBoer saying, “Anybody you put him with, he complements. Good players want to play with a guy like that because he’s competitive, he’s on pucks, he recovers pucks, he can make a play.”
  • Expect forward Mathieu Joseph to be in the lineup tomorrow night for the St. Louis Blues after missing the team’s last six games (X Link). Joseph, who had been nursing a lower-body injury, hasn’t played since October 26th. In his first year with the Blues organization, Joseph has collected two goals and four points in nine contests while averaging just over 13 minutes of ice time per night.

Central Notes: Predators, Drouin, Seguin, Martinez

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The Nashville Predators were expecting better than a 4-7-1 record through the first month of the regular season, especially after spending $108.5MM to bring in Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault, and Brady Skjei in free agency. Still, despite the poor start, it doesn’t appear the team is ready to hit the panic button yet.

In an article from The Fourth Period, David Pagnotta said, “Barry Totz is certainly going to be doing his due diligence and looking around to see what may be available down the road. But right now, as you mentioned, four points out of a playoff spot, despite their rough start to the new season, I don’t really get the sense that they’re looking or itching to make an impact type of move or a panic type of move just now.”

The issues in Nashville fall on both sides of the ice. The offense hasn’t generated much enthusiasm with 2.42 GF/G and the defense hasn’t been able to hold down the fort with a 3.42 GA/G through 12 games. There are still some encouraging signs with the Predators sitting eighth in the league with a 52.8% CorsiFor% and the biggest disparity in actual goal differential minus expected goal differential according to Hockey Reference. Time will tell if Nashville has fundamental problems with their play or if they have to wait a bit longer for pucks to start bouncing their way.

Other Central notes:

  • The Colorado Avalanche are already getting a major boost to their forward core with the return of Artturi Lehkonen. According to Meghan Angley of Guerilla Sports, the team could get another reinforcement in the form of Jonathan Drouin. Angley shares that Drouin is close to returning from his upper-body injury which has kept him sidelined for much of the year aside from the opening contest. Lehkonen and the return of Drouin give Colorado two bonafide top-six wingers with Valeri Nichushkin expected to return in a few days.
  • Thanks to a lower-body injury, Dallas Stars veteran forward Tyler Seguin has only participated in seven of the team’s 11 contests. Robert Tiffin of D Magazine shares that the lower-body injury shouldn’t keep Seguin out for an extended time but it will likely be something the team has to manage all year. Seguin may inevitably land around his 2023-24 totals of 68 games played but has gotten off to a strong start this year with five goals and nine points in his limited action.
  • Mario Tirabassi of CHGO Blackhawks reports veteran defenseman Alec Martinez resumed skating this morning before the team’s practice. Martinez, who brings Stanley Cup pedigree to a relatively young Blackhawks roster, has been sidelined on October 15th due to a right groin injury. In his stead, Chicago has relied on a combination of young defensemen Nolan Allan, Wyatt Kaiser, and Alex Vlasic on the left side of the defense.

Snapshots: Drouin, Rempe, Lazar

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Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette is reporting that injured Colorado Avalanche forward Jonathan Drouin is being upgraded to day-to-day, an indication that he could return to action soon. Drouin hasn’t dressed for a game since he suffered a lower-body injury in the first game of the season back on October 8th. The 29-year-old is reportedly still dealing with some pain but should be able to return when he is cleared to do so.

Colorado has not had issues putting the puck in the net this season. However, they are still without the services of several forwards and will be happy to have Drouin’s services when he gets back into the lineup.

In other notes from around the league:

  • The New York Rangers have reportedly recalled forward Matt Rempe from the Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL (as per AHL Transactions). The 22-year-old was assigned to the AHL on Friday and dressed in two games with Hartford, where he was held without a point and went -3. New York had lent Rempe to Hartford to try and get him more playing time, but with a matchup this week against the Washington Capitals, and more specifically, Tom Wilson, the Rangers opted to bring the big man back to the NHL.
  • New Jersey Devils forward Curtis Lazar left tonight’s game against the Anaheim Ducks and did not return (as per Mike Morreale of NHL.com). The 29-year-old collided with Ducks captain Radko Gudas when Gudas tried to execute an ill-timed hip check on Lazar, which resulted in an awkward-looking collision. Lazar appeared unable to put any weight on his left leg as he exited the game and did not return for the third period. He played just 4:40. In a post-game interview, Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporter Gabriel Trevino that Lazar will miss some time.

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