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Jonathan Drouin

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.

Central Notes: Hall, Lehkonen, Drouin, Perunovich

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It’s not common for a 10-plus-year NHL veteran to have a strong desire to play for a rebuilding club, especially without having played in a Stanley Cup Final. According to an interview with Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Chicago Blackhawks’ Taylor Hall has different ideas about his future.

If Hall has his way he would be with the Blackhawks’ organization through their rebuild and into their next competitive window. Seravalli quoted Hall as saying, “I’d love to stay and be part of this. I’ve moved around quite a bit, maybe more than I would’ve liked or planned at the start of my career. But it’s brought me and led me to some amazing people, and I’ve had a lot of great life experiences, and that’s made me grow up a lot. In saying that, I like it here, I like the organization. Most of all, I really like this team and the group of guys we have. I think I can be a good piece for us as we keep growing“.

It makes sense for Hall to finally settle down with an organization for the twilight years of his career. The former first-overall pick of the 2010 NHL Draft has played for six organizations throughout his 15-year NHL career five of which coming in the past six seasons. He’s only in his age-33 season meaning he could theoretically be a part of Chicago’s reemergence into contention depending on the pace of their rebuild with phenom Connor Bedard.

Other Central notes:

  •  Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette shared a few injury updates regarding Colorado Avalanche forwards Artturi Lehkonen and Jonathan Drouin. Lehkonen, who has not played since Colorado’s series-clinching loss to the Dallas Stars in Round Two of the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs, is continuing to recover from offseason shoulder surgery. He is meeting with doctors once the team returns to Denver later this week and is hopeful he will be cleared. Drouin is working his way back from an upper-body injury and will be re-examined once the team returns from their three-game road trip.
  • According to Lou Korac of The Hockey News, St. Louis Blues defenseman Scott Perunovich is expected to make his season debut tomorrow night. Perunovich is buried on the Blues’ depth chart to start the season thanks to offseason additions Ryan Suter and Pierre-Olivier Joseph. He managed 17 assists last year in St. Louis in 52 games played but there were considerable concerns with his play on the defensive side of the puck. Perunovich may find himself on the waiver wire in the coming days when Nick Leddy is activated so his inclusion in tomorrow’s lineup could be interpreted as an informal tryout.

Avalanche Place Jonathan Drouin On Injured Reserve

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Oct. 22: According to the league’s media portal, Wagner was returned to AHL Colorado at some point yesterday. He sat in the press box for Sunday’s win over the Sharks.

Oct. 20: The Colorado Avalanche have placed forward Jonathan Drouin on injured reserve with an upper-body injury and recalled Chris Wagner. Drouin played a hardy 21:25 of ice time in Colorado’s season opener and didn’t seem limited, but he hasn’t skated since. Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar recently shared that Drouin would be reevaluated on October 28th, setting him up to miss at least five more games.

Colorado signed Drouin to another one-year contract this summer, awarding him a $1.675MM raise over his previous deal after he scored a career-high 56 points last season. It was a much-needed breakout year for Drouin, who found quick comfort playing next to former Halifax Mooseheads teammate Nathan MacKinnon. The duo contributed to a fantastic 97-14-11 record over two years together in Halifax, capping off their tandem with the first Memorial Cup win in Mooseheads history. Their chemistry translated to Colorado, where Drouin spent 940 minutes, or 65 percent of his total ice time, on the ice with MacKinnon.

Drouin was lined up to continue that top-line role this season, but in his absence, it’s instead gone to Ross Colton. Colton’s taken full advantage of the expanded minutes, scoring four goals and five points in his last four games. Meanwhile, Wagner will join a crowded bottom six, set to compete with Matthew Stienburg and Ivan Ivan for a fourth-line role. Both Stienburg and Ivan are playing through the first games of their NHL careers, though neither has been particularly inspiring – with Stienburg going scoreless through two games and Ivan posting one assist in five games. Wagner hasn’t found much production of his own but does offer 375 games of NHL experience and served as Colorado’s de facto call-up last season. He’ll look to return to his role of fourth-line glue guy quickly as the Avalanche look to buck a dismal 1-4-0 start to the season.

Colorado Avalanche Dealing With Multiple Injuries

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The Colorado Avalanche currently have the worst record in the league in the young 2024-25 NHL season and it appears the bad news will continue to pour in. Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette reports forward Jonathan Drouin will not play tomorrow night due to injury, joining defenseman Devon Toews. Jesse Montano of Guerilla Sports followed up on Rawal’s report sharing that Drouin would “miss some time”.

Factoring in Valeri Nichushkin’s current suspension and the injuries to Gabriel Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen — the Avalanche have nearly $28MM (31.1%) sidelined due to injury. Few teams have the necessary depth up front to cover that kind of blow and Colorado’s record is proof positive. Much of the blame can be placed at the feet of the organization’s goaltending who have allowed the highest goals-against-per-game average out of the gates and have combined for a -10.7 goals saved above average according to HockeyReference.

The offense has been fairly average early on this season averaging 3.25 GF/G but the Avalanche’s ability to outscore opponents is quickly faltering. The team has the benefit of deploying Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen who can carry their lines but the substantial issues are growing in the team’s bottom-six.

Colorado’s bottom six has combined for a -3.6 E +/- while MacKinnon alone has managed a league-leading +3.7 E +/-. The conglomeration of miscellaneous parts in the bottom six has failed to generate much offense in the first few games of the season nor are they steering the opposition to do the same.

A slightly below-average bottom-six wouldn’t typically be that concerning to a contending team early on in the regular season. The Avalanche’s goaltending duo of Alexandar Georgiev and Justus Annunen have had the worst start compared to all other teams. Rawal reported that Kaapo Kähkönen’s visa issues are headed toward a resolution meaning Colorado could have a stable netminder join the team soon.

Central Notes: Wild, Avalanche, Korchinski

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The Minnesota Wild have shared that  Jared Spurgeon (lower-body) and Joel Eriksson Ek (broken nose) will both miss the team’s Tuesday night matchup against St. Louis. Forward Marcus Johansson is also questionable with an undisclosed injury, shares Michael Russo of The Athletic. Johansson was absent from the team’s Tuesday morning practice, while both Spurgeon and Eriksson Ek also missed the team’s Sunday game.

Injury news hasn’t favored Minnesota through the early going. The absentees – Spurgeon and Eriksson Ek – stand as two of the most-utilized Wild skaters, each playing over 19 minutes of ice time in the team’s season debut. Eriksson Ek recorded an assist and three shots in the outing, while Spurgeon’s only recorded stat was a pair of shots. The duo are both pillars of Minnesota’s lineup, and they left big shoes to fill when they went down with injuries. The Wild responded by moving Zach Bogosian and Marco Rossi into bigger roles on Sunday, though that outing resulted in an overtime loss to Winnipeg.

Minnesota now not only has to find fill-ins for a pair of top-liners, but could also need a replacement for Johansson’s spot on line-three. Johansson has recorded two points in three games through the early going – one of just five Wild with multiple points so far. It’ll be extra forward Travis Boyd who steps in, should Johansson be downgraded to out.

Other notes from the Midwest:

  • The Colorado Avalanche also have a pair of injury updates, announcing that defender Devon Toews (lower-body) is hopeful for the team’s Wednesday game, while forward Jonathan Drouin (upper-body) has been ruled out, per Corey Masisak of The Denver Post. Drouin seemed to suffer an injury in Colorado’s season opener last Wednesday, and has missed both games Colorado has played since. No specifics of his injury have been revealed. Toews also missed Colorado’s most recent game. The specifics of his injury are also unclear, especially with no clear indication of when the injury occurred. Oliver Kylington filled Toews’ role on the top-pair in his’ absence, and stands to continue garnering more minutes should the star sit out once again.
  • Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Kevin Korchinski scored a flashy, coast-to-coast goal in the AHL Rockford IceHogs’ season debut, leading to conversations about when Korchinski may be ready to return to the NHL. He played in 76 games on a deprived Blackhawks blue-line last season, but posted a less-than-inspiring 15 points and -39. That prompted Chicago to assign him to the minors to start this season, with Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson telling Scott Powers of The Athletic that the team hopes it’ll boost Korchinski’s confidence. Davidson acknowledged that the team may have asked too much of the rookie last season, and that building up his confidence will be top priority in the AHL. He told Powers, “You just want him to get that confidence back that he had in junior, and that’s going to take time, especially at the pro level.” IceHogs head coach Anders Sorensen agreed with Davidson, adding that he’s encouraging Korchinski to drive the puck downhill and challenge opposing forwards more. The 20-year-old defender certainly showed that ability with his inaugural AHL goal, and could be on a quick route back to the NHL roster once he gains the confidence to do that routinely.

Central Notes: Rantanen, Drouin, Texier, Bourque

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We’ve seen some prominent unrestricted free agents sign early extensions over the past few months.  One that some expected to do so is Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen but an agreement isn’t in place yet.  In the latest TSN Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun relayed that there appears to still be a gap to be bridged between the two sides with Colorado potentially using Mikko Rantanen’s $12.6MM AAV as an internal cap on an offer.  Rantanen – who kicked off his platform year with a hat-trick – has surpassed the 100-point mark in two straight years, putting him in line for a sizable raise on his current $9.25MM AAV; it’s possible that he breaks the record for the highest AAV for a winger (Rangers winger Artemi Panarin holds it with a $11.643MM cap charge).

More from the Central Division:

  • Still with the Avalanche, head coach Jared Bednar told reporters including Evan Rawal of The Denver Gazette that winger Jonathan Drouin will miss at least the next two games with an upper-body injury. It’s another tough blow for a Colorado winger group that’s currently without Valeri Nichushkin, Gabriel Landeskog, and Artturi Lehkonen.  The 29-year-old had a career-high 56 points last season and logged more than 21 minutes in their season opener and will be re-assessed early next week to determine how much more time he might miss.
  • The Blues announced (Twitter link) that winger Alexandre Texier is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Louis acquired the 25-year-old in the offseason from Columbus after he put up a career-best 30 points in 78 games and quickly signed him to a two-year, $4.2MM contract.  Texier had an assist in their season-opening victory over Seattle but missed Thursday’s win over San Jose.
  • The Stars are hoping that winger Mavrik Bourque will be able to suit up in one of their games this weekend, relays Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link). The 22-year-old is dealing with a lower-body injury but did skate today.  Bourque was the top scorer in the AHL last season, notching 26 goals and 51 assists in 71 games while also suiting up twice for Dallas, once in the regular season and once in the playoffs.

Avalanche Re-Sign Jonathan Drouin

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Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports the Colorado Avalanche have signed forward Jonathan Drouin to a one-year contract. A few moments later, Pierre LeBrun confirmed it would be a one-year deal for Drouin and Colorado with a salary of $2.5MM.

Although Drouin’s departure looked inevitable due to a dismal cap situation in Colorado, the two sides worked out an agreement even after Drouin was allowed to negotiate with other clubs. Drouin’s salary for the 2024-25 season is more than a 300% raise on his previous contract — and it still looks like a bargain for the Avalanche.

After falling out of the picture in Montreal, Drouin signed in Colorado on a one-year, $825K deal last summer to reunite with former Halifax teammate, Nathan MacKinnon. Turning out to be on one of the most valuable contracts in the league, Drouin rewarded the Avalanche’s confidence with 19 goals and 56 points during the 2023-24 regular season. Drouin missed a considerable amount of time in Colorado’s run through the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs but still managed to tally three assists in three games.

Drouin will have even more responsibility for the Avalanche this season as the team waits on the status of Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog. Nevertheless, he should find a home in the team’s top six and may even log the most minutes next to MacKinnon. If the team is content with Drouin next to their top talent, it could allow them to move Mikko Rantanen around the lineup to boost the other lines.

Central Notes: Predators, Drouin, Pavelski, McGroarty

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Nearly one year ago, the Nashville Predators made some surprise additions in free agency by bringing in veteran forwards Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist on multi-year contracts. Expect much of the same from the Predators organization this summer as Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports reports Nashville is looking to be aggressive once free agency opens up on Monday.

Lavoie specifically cites Steven Stamkos as a player that the Predators will take a run at — a rumor that has been picking up some steam over recent days. With just over $26MM in cap space and only a few notable pieces to retain, Nashville could do some damage on the free-agent market this summer.

Outside of Stamkos, the Predators will likely be checking in on multiple free agents over the next few days as the team could use additional help in the form of a top-six forward and top-four defenseman. Thankfully, the team captain, Roman Josi, can still be counted on for the most minutes on Nashville’s blue line but the team could certainly use some help behind him in the form of a veteran talent to lessen the burden.

Other Central notes:

  • Despite both parties’ willingness to agree on a contract extension, the cap situation for the Colorado Avalanche may be pushing Jonathan Drouin out the door (Article Link). For the second summer in a row, the Avalanche are scrambling to sign cheap depth at every position with the team only carrying $10.47MM in cap space into the summer months. Without factoring in the potential return of forward Valeri Nichushkin and his $6.125MM salary, it appears improbable that Colorado will be able to retain Drouin. After only playing on an $825K salary for the 2023-24 NHL season, Drouin has earned a considerable raise after scoring 19 goals and 56 points in 79 games.
  • If everything is to go as expected, Joe Pavelski of the Dallas Stars has already played his last game in the National Hockey League. He will not have to wait long for a job offer though as Sean Shapiro of EP Rinkside reports the Stars organization is more than willing to give Pavelski an opportunity in the front office if he officially decides to retire. It would not be surprising to see Pavelski land a front-office job after his playing career officially concludes, as the veteran star has largely operated in a leadership role throughout his professional career as a player.
  • After nearly a week of trade chatter, the Winnipeg Jets could not find an optimal trade to move prospect Rutger McGroarty out of the system during draft weekend. Looking for updates on the matter, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press could only confirm that McGroarty would not be present at the Jets’ development camp this summer. Due to McGroarty not being eligible for unrestricted free agency for another two seasons, Winnipeg can be patient when it comes to moving his contract rights.

Morning Notes: Golden Knights, Red Wings, Drouin

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The Vegas Golden Knights have reportedly been in talks with the Boston Bruins about acquiring goaltender Linus Ullmark (as per Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia). The news is a bit surprising given the Golden Knights’ depth at the position, however, Vegas has received interest in their own goaltenders and might see Ullmark as a way to improve their netminding in the short term.

Boston has reportedly been looking at a center in exchange for Ullmark, and Vegas could potentially make that happen although it would create a hole in their forward group. The Golden Knights currently have Adin Hill and Logan Thompson under contract for next season, however, neither goalie was able to grab the net last season and both men posted save percentages below .910. It’s always interesting to see Vegas pop up in trade negotiations as they have a recent history of getting the players that they target, and Ullmark would certainly solidify the position for the team for the next couple of seasons.

In other morning notes:

  • Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia is reporting that the Detroit Red Wings have had talks with the Boston Bruins regarding goaltender Linus Ullmark. Garrioch didn’t specify when the trade talks took place, but it is possible they happened before Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said that he wasn’t interested in a veteran goalie who wouldn’t be with Detroit in 2-3 years (as per Sean Shapiro). Yzerman also told the media he wasn’t opposed to improving Detroit’s goaltending if something made sense, and Ullmark would be a dramatic improvement over any of the other netminders in Detroit’s depth chart. Detroit gave up 274 goals last season, finishing 24 out of 32 teams.
  • Colorado Avalanche writer Adrian Dater tweeted that he believes the Avalanche will re-sign forward Jonathan Drouin. Dater called his speculation “an educated guess” but added that there are still conversations between the team and the 29-year-old pending unrestricted free agent. Drouin came over to the Avalanche last summer as a free agent, signing a bargain one-year contract for $825K. That deal was an absolute steal for Colorado as Drouin regained his offensive form and tallied 19 goals and 37 assists. Any long-term deal with Drouin will carry a certain degree of risk given his play in previous years, however, he should be able to fetch a short-term commitment this summer with a healthy AAV.

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