UNPREDICTABLE NEWS: The Minnesota Wild have formally announced the departure of their outstanding forward to the Colorado Avalanche, according to NHL Report this afternoon. However…

There is big momentum for Jonathan Drouin to re-sign with the Avs

The Colorado Avalanche and forward Jonathan Drouin were a perfect match during the 2023-24 regular season.

And now there’s real momentum to get him a new contract to stay with the Avs.

Drouin, who’s set to be a free agent next month, wants to return to the team that helped him revive his career. Avalanche GM Chris MacFarland feels the same way, and a meeting with Drouin’s agent Allan Walsh seems to go really well.

Here’s the key quote from Walsh discussing the mutual interest in hammering out a new contract.

“Both sides have been pretty public about how we want to make a deal, they want to make a deal,” Walsh said. “When both sides want to make deals, deals happen.”

That should be music to Avalanche fans ears, as Drouin was one of the best stories of the season. The former No. 3 overall pick in 2013 seemed to find a home in Colorado and was comfortable on a line with his good friend Nathan MacKinnon as well as Mikko Rantanen.

Drouin had a career-high 56 points in the regular season, netting 19 goals and 37 assists. He played in 79 of the team’s 82 games.

Unfortunately, a fluky injury kept him out of the Avalanche’s Round 1 series against the Winnipeg Jets and caused him to miss the first three games against the Dallas Stars in Round 2. Drouin played in Games 4, 5 and 6, tallying an assist in each contest. Colorado had its season end in Game 6 in 2OT against the Stars.

Also, with the uncertain futures of captain Gabriel Landeskog and winger Valeri Nichushkin, the Avalanche got some good news over the weekend. The NHL salary cap will go up to $88 million, hopefully leaving some wiggle room to get a deal with Jonathan Drouin done.

It sure looks like it’s headed in that direction. Now MacFarland and Walsh just need to get it to the finish line.