Dec 30, 2024, 06:48 PM ET
Avalanche forward Jonathan Drouin, who had missed the past 16 games due to an upper body injury, returned to the ice and had two assists in Colorado’s 5-2 win over visiting Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.
Entering Tuesday, Drouin, 29, had played in only five games this season, one on Oct. 9 and four games from Nov. 15 to Nov. 23. He has six points (2 goals, 4 assists) after playing 18:15 against Winnipeg.
“It’s been a long year. Kind of play a couple games and get reinjured,” Drouin said Monday. “The same kind of thing happened, and kind of redo the whole process of all the rehab and treatment. … It’s very similar, very close to the same one I had to start the year in the first game.”
Drouin scored a career-high 56 points (19 goals, 37 assists) in his first season with the Avalanche in 2023-24.
Tampa Bay selected Drouin with the third pick in the 2013 NHL draft. He has 343 career points (98 goals, 245 assists) in 570 games for the Lightning (2014-17), Montreal Canadiens (2017-23) and Avalanche, who have signed him as a free agent each of the past two years.
Field Level Media contributed to this report.
