Avalanche hopeful Jonathan Drouin will return for second round of NHL playoffs

WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Avalanche head to the second round of the NHL postseason with a top-six winger potentially rejoining their lineup.

Jonathan Drouin recently told a French Canadian media outlet that he suffered a skate blade cut on his leg in Colorado's regular-season finale. Drouin missed the first-round series against Winnipeg but is making positive health progress.

“Yeah. It fits the timeline. He’s got a long way to go yet, (Drouin), because he hasn't hit the ice yet,” coach Jared Bednar after a Game 5 series-clinching victory in Winnipeg. “He’s still working on his rehab. The timeline was four weeks or less. We’re still hoping for that. He’s making progress, there’s no question, so I’m hoping that he can get back. We’ll see how long that other series goes and how much time we have.”

Bottom-six winger Joel Kiviranta is also trending toward a comeback. He missed two first-round playoff games with a lower-body injury. Bednar said Kiviranta is considered day-to-day for return.

MacKinnon reflects

Nathan MacKinnon logged seven goals and two assists in the first-round series victory and is tied for the team lead in points (nine) with Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar.

MacKinnon reflected on the team’s five-game series win over the Jets.

“Super happy with everyone; how hard we worked and how hard we battled this series was amazing,” MacKinnon said. “Before the series I think we came in really humble. We weren't playing well. These guys just beat us 7-0, so it was a big wake-up call to how hard it takes to even win a series in this league. So super proud of the guys and a lot of work to have to do here.”

Norris nominations

Makar is one of three finalists for the Norris Trophy, the NHL announced Wednesday, given annually to the league’s best defenseman. He joins Quinn Hughes (Canucks) and Roman Josi (Predators).

Makar led all NHL blueliners with 1.17 points/game this season. He set franchise records in 2023-24 for assists (69) and points (90) by a defenseman. This marks the fourth consecutive time Makar has been nominated for the Norris Trophy. He won the award in 2021-22.

Quotable

Starting goaltender Alexandar Georgiev on bouncing back from a rough Game 1 in Winnipeg to win the series: “Tried to turn the (new) leaf. You can’t help thinking about it. Just tried to be happy that we were in a good position. It was OK. First game, we lost. But it was a good chance to bounce back and then get back home where our fans support us a lot. Just that mindset, I would say. The guys did a great job overall.”