Colorado Forward’s Lingering Injury Allows a Return to the Lineup
The Colorado Avalanche announced prior to Thursday night’s puck drop against the Minnesota Wild that Jonathan Drouin would return to the lineup.
The team announced Wednesday morning, before their game against the Chicago Blackhawks, that Drouin would not play due to an upper-body injury. This comes after consecutive maintenance days for the forward, including prior to morning skate on Monday night’s game against the Florida Panthers and Tuesday’s practice at Family Sports Center before flying to Chicago.
Head Coach Jared Bednar spoke to media following practice, giving an update that the maintenance did have to do with a lingering injury sustained earlier in the season, but didn’t give a timeline on when to expect a fully-healthy Drouin.
“It’s not an injury that you need to manage. When he’s good, he’s good. And then we have the break coming up, so we’ll push through to the break as best as we can. If he can play, he can play. If he can’t, he can’t. There’s no risk of injuring- [With] his injury, there’s no risk of it getting worse.”
Drouin will draw back in on the first line with teammates Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.