Former Avalanche forward Jonathan Drouin officially leaves town

The Colorado Avalanche officially lost forward Jonathan Drouin in free agency on Tuesday afternoon.

He’s headed to the New York Islanders on a two-year deal, reportedly worth $4 million a season.

#Isles Transaction: The New York Islanders have signed forward Jonathan Drouin to a two-year contract.

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) July 1, 2025

It was reported last week by ESPN that Drouin returning to the Avalanche was “very unlikely,” and then over the weekend his agent said he’d be hitting free agency. Just a few hours into the process, Drouin is a member of Colorado no longer.

Drouin played last year on a $2.5 million deal, but battled injuries throughout. He appeared in just 43 games, although he did have 11 goals and 26 assists.

In the playoffs Drouin was demoted to the third line and saw his ice-time noticeably slashed. He registered zero goals and three assists in seven games against the Dallas Stars, while being a -6 in the +/- category. That was the worst on the entire team.

Drouin is very good friends with Nathan MacKinnon after the two played together on the Halifax Mooseheads more than a decade ago. In the 2013 NHL Draft, MacKinnon went No. 1 overall to the Avalanche and Drouin went No. 3 to the Lightning.

He had some decent years with Tampa Bay and Montreal, but clearly needed a change of scenery after registering only 29 points with the Canadiens during the 2022-23 season. After he signed with Colorado, Drouin had a career-high 56 points during the 23-24 season.

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But again, injuries have become a problem with Jonathan Drouin. And now that the captain Gabriel Landeskog is back the Avalanche didn’t view him as a top-6 forward.

Hence, even with some new salary cap space, GM Chris MacFarland and president Joe Sakic had no problem letting him walk to the New York Islanders. Best of luck to Drouin in his next chapter.