The Montreal Canadiens have announced that Jonathan Drouin will take an indefinite leave of absence for the team for personal reasons. The team has asked everyone to respect his privacy and placed him on long-term injured reserve. Drouin hasn’t played since April 21 against the Edmonton Oilers, missing the last three games. That means he could be placed on LTIR retroactive to his last appearance, and could potentially return before the end of the season after missing his mandated ten games.
It has been a difficult season performance-wise for Drouin, who has just two goals in 44 games this season. After the announcement, there was an immediate outpouring of support on social media from fans and media alike, wishing him the best as he deals with whatever is going on.
With Drouin on LTIR, the Canadiens shouldn’t run into any more cap issues in relation to Cole Caufield or Jake Evans and could use the two young forwards down the stretch. Both were on the ice at morning skate according to John Lu of TSN as the team prepares for a game against the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening.