Drouin signs 1-year contract with Avalanche

Jonathan Drouin signed a one-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The 28-year-old forward had 29 points (two goals, 27 assists) in 58 games for the Montreal Canadiens last season.

Selected by the Tampa Bay Lightning with the No. 3 pick of the 2013 NHL Draft, Drouin has 281 points (77 goals, 204 assists) in 485 regular-season games for the Canadiens and Lightning and 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) in 33 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"I think I needed a fresh start," Drouin said Monday. "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."

Drouin and Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon played with Halifax of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League from 2011-12.

"We definitely were texting quite a bit in the past couple of weeks," Drouin said. "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."

Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said he did ask MacKinnon about Drouin before signing him.

"Of course we're going to pick Nate's brain," he said. "He knows [Drouin] better than anyone, not only as the player but as a person and an individual. So we definitely picked Nate's brain, and he was in full support of this type of situation. It's a low-risk, high-reward type of situation that hopefully will pay dividends for both, but we're really excited about it, and Nate definitely was an honorary member of the scouting department for a few days, that's for sure."

Forward Miles Wood (six years) and defenseman Bowen Byram (two years) each signed with the Avalanche on Saturday.

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Wood, 27, had 27 points (13 goals, 14 assists) in 76 regular-season games for the New Jersey Devils last season and two goals in eight playoff games.

Selected by New Jersey in the fourth round (No. 100) of the 2013 NHL Draft, Wood has 148 points (78 goals, 70 assists) in 402 regular-season games and two goals in 13 playoff games.

"That was my goal heading into free agency, was trying to get term, and I was fortunate enough to get that," Wood said Monday. "This free agency, a lot of one- and two-year deals were handed out, so I feel very fortunate in the sense that I got a six-year deal, and from the start, Colorado was always a team that I would love to play for. I love the mountains. I'm an outdoor guy, and whenever [the Devils] would go out and play them, it's just such a great spot. And I have some friends that live out there as well, so I'd go out to see them in the offseason and just felt like Colorado is a perfect spot for me."

Byram, 22, who was a restricted free agent, had NHL career highs in goals (10), assists (14) and points (24) in 42 regular-season games for the Avalanche last season, and three assists in seven playoff games.

Selected by Colorado in the first round (No. 4) of the 2019 NHL Draft, Byram has 43 points (15 goals, 28 assists) in 91 regular-season games and 12 assists in 27 playoff games. He won the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022.

The Avalanche also acquired forward Ross Colton, who is a restricted free agent, from the Lightning on Wednesday for a second-round pick in the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft, and traded forward Alex Newhook to the Canadiens for a first- and second-round pick in the 2023 draft and defenseman prospect Gianni Fairbrother on Tuesday.

Colorado also acquired Ryan Johansen in a trade with the Nashville Predators on Monday for forward Alex Galchenyuk.

"I think both Wood and Colton were key parts on their previous teams for sure," MacFarland said. "I think Coach (Jared) Bednar will have a lot of flexibility and a lot of different options to try different things. I believe, obviously, Drouin's skill set will definitely play well with our other skilled players, so I can easily envision him getting looks with Nathan, Johansen, whoever you know that 'Bedsy' wants to see in the Top 6.

"Now he's going to have to earn that ice time to stay there, but I definitely think it's a skill swing, and his hands and his ability to make plays is certainly not in question. So, I would envision coach will have some interesting types of things to mix and match on including with Ross and Miles Wood. He's a guy that can probably move in and around the lineup seamlessly. He's a fast player. Both of them are really competitive, so I think it'll play well here, and Bedsy will have some scenarios that he can play with in preseason."

Colorado (51-24-7) won the Central Division last season but lost in seven games to the Seattle Kraken in the Western Conference First Round.

NHL.com independent correspondent Ryan Boulding contributed to this report