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The season is over for the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado lost in Game 6 of their series with the Dallas Stars on Friday. Now they must shift into offseason mode and decide how to approach free agency and the draft. Jonathan Drouin recently shared his thoughts on a possible return to Colorado that will have fans excited.
According to DNVR Avalanche, Drouin would welcome a return to Colorado next season.
“Awesome,” Drouin said about his first season playing in Colorado. “Obviously had tough years in Montreal, so to come here and play with this team, kinda find my way as the year went on, it was cool. It’s a great bunch of guys, this staff is awesome. It’s a great place to play hockey.”
The Avalanche finished the regular season third place in the Western Conference with a record of 50-25-7 and 107 points.
“It was a good year for me. Definitely took some steps forward toward my game, how I want to play,” Drouin said. “Credit to a lot of people here, from the coaching staff to the players. It’s a hell of a group, a lot of good players.”
Drouin logged 19 goals and a career-best 56 points in 79 games this year. Colorado took a chance on Drouin as a reclamation project after a two-goal, 29-point season in 2022 with the Canadiens. Drouin signed a one-year contract worth only $825,000 and far exceeded expectations with the Avalanche.
“I’d love to come back here and sign here,” Drouin said. “I’ve loved my time here, my family’s loved their time.”
Jonathan Drouin: “I’d love to come back here and sign here… I loved my time here, my family loved their time.” pic.twitter.com/ccRTtUKRnr
— DNVR Avalanche (@DNVR_Avalanche) May 18, 2024
Drouin is a pending unrestricted free agent. He is due a sizeable raise from his low $0.85 million cap hit. It will be interesting to see how his market develops in free agency.
How will the Colorado Avalanche approach the offseason?
The Colorado Avalanche will have a lot of questions to answer this offseason. They will have some tough decisions to make with a somewhat limited salary cap situation.
Colorado is projected to have $15.92 million of cap space to work with, according to CapFriendly. The team will need to use this cap space wisely to fill holes in their lineup and possibly make some upgrades that could get them over the hump.
Much of this year’s starting lineup is already locked up for next year. The offense is looking solid. Nathan MacKinnon and Miles Woods are locked in for the long-term. Lehkonen, Colton, and Rantanen are still under contract, with Rantanen entering the final year on his deal.
Colorado will return several starters on defense as well. Makar, Toews, Girard, and Manson are all locked up for at least the next two seasons.
The Avalanche will need to use their remaining cap space to fill out their third and fourth lines on offense and add some depth on defense.
Unless he’s willing to take a discount to stay, Jonathan Drouin may not make sense for the Avalanche moving forward. He massively outperformed his affordable contract this year and is due for a big raise. Colorado may be better served finding someone else who can contribute on a cheap contract like they did last year with Drouin.
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