Avalanche Injury Update: Drouin Return Possible In Round Two

You never want to lose anyone to injury, but the Colorado Avalanche were able to overcome a few and make it past round one on Tuesday night.

Could they get some of the calvary in round two? It sounds possible.

Jonathan Drouin, who has been around the team and has been walking with a very noticeable limp, told the French media that he suffered a deep skate cut to his lower thigh and thinks he could return near the end of the second round or start of the third round.

After closing things out against the Winnipeg Jets, Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar gave a more detailed update than I would have expected when asked if Drouin could return during the second round.

“Yeah, fits the timeline,” Bednar said. “He’s got a long way to go yet, because he hasn’t hit the ice yet. 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 just how much time we have.”

The same can be said for Joel Kiviranta, who also has been seen limping around. He left Game Three multiple times and ultimately couldn’t play the rest of the series, replaced by Nikolai Kovalenko. It was bad timing for Kiviranta, who was playing his best hockey in an Avalanche jersey.

The break between round one and round two might be good for him, though.

“Another guy that still needs some time to get back,” Bednar said of Kiviranta. “We have him as day-to-day, but he’s been pretty sore here the last few days.”

The Avalanche will face either the Dallas Stars or the Vegas Golden Knights in round two, and given some of these injuries, are likely hoping that series goes to seven games. That might give them just enough time for a Drouin return to be possible.