Former Colorado Avalanche forward Jonathan Drouin was linked to the team prior to them deciding to sign him to a one-year contract in 2023, and while some might think that a reunion could work, there is one thing stopping the team from capitalizing on that transaction.
During his two years with the Avalanche, Drouin played in 122 games and had 30 goals and 63 assists. That’s not bad at all. In fact, his two-year tenure with the Avalanche awarded him a 2-year, $4 million AAV contract from the New York Islanders. He was then traded to the St. Louis Blues, where he finished out last season.
Unfortunately, Drouin’s résumé lacks a couple of major things. While he has come close to increasing his total a couple of times, he has just one 20-goal season in his career. In 64 games played between the Islanders and Blues last season, Drouin had just four goals and 20 assists. That’s a massive drop-off from what he did with the Avs, making his two-year deal a bad signing.
There is still one more massive reason why Jonathan Drouin remains unsigned
When it comes to the Colorado Avalanche, something that has caught my attention recently is a player’s playoff performance—or lack thereof.
We’ve seen it with Brock Nelson and Martin Necas. Both have been extremely underwhelming during the postseason careers. While Necas had 13 points in 13 games this past playoff push, 12 of those 13 points were assists. That’s just not going to cut it for a second-line center. The Avalanche and Avs Faithful expect more.
That’s why Drouin would not fit this team. His playoff résumé is awfully similar. In 43 career playoff games, Drouin has six goals and 21 assists. I would love to see him have a much more productive playoff push at some point. At 31-years-old, though, it’s hard to imagine he’ll suddenly have an uptick in playoff production.
The Avalanche already have a couple of underperforming playoff players, and dropping another player from having a chance to show what he can do for Drouin would make no sense.
We’ll see if or when Drouin gets signed elsewhere. Maybe a team scratching and clawing with an outside shot at the playoffs gives him an opportunity. I just doubt that the Avalanche would want anything to do with him at this point, no matter how much fans pounded the table for him a couple of years ago.
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