3 Potential Free-Agent Destinations for Jonathan Drouin

Jonathan Drouin found his game after joining the Colorado Avalanche last season, recording 56 points in 79 games during the bounce-back campaign. It was the highest point total of his career and after doing so in a contract year, Drouin set himself up to land a multi-year deal this summer.

A number of teams will be interested in the former top-three pick and here's who could be involved in contract talks once free agency opens in July:

Colorado Avalanche

Drouin made it clear his #1 choice is going back to the Avs and playing another season with best buddy Nathan MacKinnon. Colorado has $16 million to work with in cap space but they do have a number of holes including in net, as GM Chris MacFarland would like to upgrade. It's hard to say if there will be enough money to go around for Drouin in Denver but if not, there will be a couple of teams waiting to pounce.

Vancouver Canucks

Canucks will be interested based on the fact they need to improve offensively and will be losing Elias Lindholm to free agency in a few weeks. The Canucks would also like to move on from Ilya Mikheyev and free up some more cap space to add this summer. Drouin fits the bill for the Canucks and won't cost a massive annual salary as his production spiked just last season. Patrik Allvin has $24 million in cap space to work with and needs to add at least one top-six forward and multiple defensemen.

Nashville Predators

The wild-card team could be the Predators as Barry Trotz is looking for more offense to add to his mix. The team relied way too much on Ryan O'Reilly, Filip Forsberg and Gustav Nyquist last season and need a more balanced approach in 2024-25. The Preds can afford to bring in Drouin on a multi-year deal and could desperately use his offensive creativity and flair. These two seem like a perfect fit this summer.

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