*Photo from NHL.com*
A little change of scenery can help someone out. The Colorado Avalanche and C/LW Jonathan Drouin have agreed to a one year, $825,000 contract, according to Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff. The team has confirmed the deal.
After what was largely viewed as a disappointing tenure with the Montreal Canadiens, Drouin is off to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado to join the Avalanche, who won the Central Division by one point last season, just edging out the Minnesota Wild.
Drouin said of joining the Avalanche that "I think I needed a fresh start. Obviously, there was a lot of ups and downs in my six years in Montreal, so I'm super excited to get a fresh start somewhere new, and like I just said, it's a great team and has been a great team for a lot of years. I'm just hoping to help them in any way I can and try to find my game again. I know it's there. It's just a matter of confidence, and like I said, it's going to be a fresh start for me. And I'm very excited about that."
A former first round pick, Drouin spent his 9th season in the league last year. Drouin scored two goals and added 27 assists for 29 points, averaging 14:54 of ice time with a -18 rating in 58 regular season games for the Canadiens.
In Colorado, Drouin has a connection with Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon. The two played as teammates for the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL, with both of them winning the Memorial Cup in 2013 before MacKinnon went first and Drouin went 3rd in the 2013 NHL Draft.
Drouin said of reuniting with MacKinnon that "We definitely were texting quite a bit in the past couple of weeks. And obviously I've known Nate for a while now, and to get a text from from him at this time in my career, it was something I was looking forward to. Not only Nate, but everyone on Colorado Avalanche, it's just such a great opportunity for me. They're a great team, been a great team for a lot of years now, and obviously Nate had a lot of influence on that, but I'm just super excited to join such a good team."
After being drafted, Drouin has played for the Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning over his 9 year career. He has 77 goals and 204 assists, posting a -86 rating while averaging 16:08 of ice time in 485 regular season games. He has 6 goals and 15 assists in 33 career playoff games.
So far this offseason, the Avalanche have signed Drouin and Miles Wood while trading for Ross Colton from the Tampa Bay Lightning and extending defenseman Bowen Byram.
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