Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar mentioned that Drouin will be reevaluated on Oct. 28, meaning he will miss at least five more games.
This summer, Colorado signed Drouin to a one-year contract, increasing his salary by ** $ 1.675M** after he had a career-high 56 points last season. Drouin enjoyed a breakout year, especially playing alongside former Halifax Mooseheads teammate Nathan MacKinnon. Together, they achieved an impressive 97-14-11 record during their two years in Halifax, culminating in their first Memorial Cup win.
Drouin was expected to maintain a top-line role, but now that position will go to Ross Colton, who has seized the opportunity, scoring four goals and tallying five points in his last four games. Meanwhile, Wagner joins a crowded bottom six, competing for a fourth-line spot against Matthew Stienburg and Ivan Ivan.
Both Stienburg and Ivan are in their first NHL games but have yet to shine — Stienburg remains scoreless in two games, while Ivan has one assist in five. Although Wagner hasn’t produced much lately, he brings 375 games of NHL experience and served as Colorado’s primary call-up last season.
Wagner aims to quickly reclaim his role as a fourth-line glue guy as the Avalanche try to recover from a disappointing 1-4-0 start to the season.
The Colorado Avalanche have placed forward Jonathan Drouin on injured reserve due to an upper-body injury and have recalled Chris Wagner. Drouin logged 21:25 of ice time in the season opener and appeared unaffected at the time but has not skated since.
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