Colorado Avalanche veteran forward set to miss time due to injury

After a disappointing end to their 2023/24 campaign, the Colorado Avalanche reloaded this summer as they look for another Stanley Cup run, but early in the season, they're dealing with some issues. Not only are Valeri Nichushkin and Gabriel Landeskog not back in the lineup, with the timetable for their returns seemingly still up in the air, but now, the team has been plagued by a mysterious injury to a key veteran.

According to reporter Evan Rawal, Colorado's Jonathan Drouin is dealing with an upper body injury, and while the extent of his absence is not yet known, he's likely to miss the teams next two games after their 0-1 start to the year. This is a brutal blow to Colorado, who already had Drouin in their top-six because of the two above injuries, and now, their new look lines certainly don't look like that of a Stanley Cup contender, which is what this team expects to be.

With Drouin's absence, the team will turn to Ross Colton and rookie Cal Ritchie as their second line wingers, with the team desperate to get all three of their veterans back to get their chemistry going early in the year.

In positive news, the team did add goaltender depth with the claim of Kaapo Kahkonen, but it still leaves many more question marks hovering over this roster. Stay tuned for updates on Drouin over the next few days, as this could still yet be ruled a major injury, but for now, he has been ruled out for two games with an update still to come.