Avs’ Drouin set to return Tuesday against Jets

Avalanche forward Jonathan Drouin, who has missed the past 16 games due to an upper-body injury, will return to the ice when Colorado faces the visiting Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.

Drouin, 29, has played in only five games this season, one on Oct. 9 and four games from Nov. 15 to Nov. 23. He has four points (two goals, two assists) and no penalty minutes, and he has averaged 20:40 of ice time.

“It’s been a long year. Kind of play a couple games and get reinjured,” Drouin said Monday. “The same kind of thing happened, and kind of redo the whole process of all the rehab and treatment. … It’s very similar, very close to the same one I had to start the year in the first game.”

Drouin is expected to play on the second line with Mikko Rantanen and Ross Colton.

“He’s feeling good, too,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said of Drouin on Monday. “I feel like the last little bit he’s really been ramping up, looks good in practice. So, it’s going to be nice to get him back. We’ve been without some of those top-six forwards for the whole season, I guess, and now we finally get him back. Should be a rested player, eager player, and we obviously know what he can provide to our team.”

Drouin scored a career-high 56 points (19 goals, 37 assists) in his first season with the Avalanche in 2023-24.

Tampa Bay selected Drouin with the third pick in the 2013 NHL draft. He has 341 career points (98 goals, 243 assists) in 569 games for the Lightning (2014-17), Montreal Canadiens (2017-23) and Avalanche, who have signed him as a free agent each of the past two years.