The Avalanche will be without a key part of their forward group for the opening round against Winnipeg. The team announced today (Twitter link) that winger Jonathan Drouin will miss the first-round series due to a lower-body injury.
The 29-year-old suffered the injury in the second period of Colorado’s regular season finale against Edmonton and did not return. It was a game where Edmonton elected to sit as many of its key players as possible while the Avs elected to dress pretty much their intended playoff lineup, a decision that clearly wound up not working out for them.
After a rough finish to his time with Montreal, Drouin elected to take a low-cost one-year deal with Colorado in the hopes of boosting his value for next summer. After a slow start, he certainly did just that. Drouin produced at nearly a point-per-game level over the final two months of the season, earning himself a full-time promotion to the top line in the process.
More to follow.
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Pro Hockey Rumors…