Key Avalanche forward to miss first-round series vs. Jets

The Avalanche will be without a key part of their forward group for the opening round against the Winnipeg Jets.  The team announced 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.  All told, his first year with the Avalanche ended with 19 goals and 37 assists in 79 games; his 56 points rank eighth among all pending unrestricted free agents.

The Avs have only two extra forwards on their active roster at the moment.  One is winger Joel Kiviranta, who had just nine points in 56 games this season.  The other is Chris Wagner, who Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now reports has been recalled from AHL Colorado.  Both are better suited as fourth-line depth players, so some line reshuffling certainly will be happening before their series gets underway on Sunday.