Islanders sign winger Jonathan Drouin for $8 million in NHL free agency
NY Post
It was shaping up to be a quiet first day of free agency for the Islanders, but general manager Mathieu Darche ended up making some noise on July 1 after all.
The Isles signed left wing Jonathan Drouin to a two-year deal at a $4 million average annual value, adding some much-needed scoring help to the middle of their lineup. The addition of Drouin, along with Tony DeAngelo and David Rittich, made it a busy Tuesday for the Islanders. Ethan Bear, Cole McWard and Matthew Highmore also signed two-way deals.
Though the other signings were mainly about depth and, in DeAngelo’s case, bringing back a player to plug a lineup hole, Drouin’s was purely for impact.
“We wanted to bring a bit of talent up front, especially to help the power play, and that’s what Jonathan Drouin is gonna do,” Darche said on a Zoom call. “He’s an elite power-play player. He can bring some offense. He’ll play in our top six.”
The 30-year-old from Ste Agathe, Quebec saw his career get a major lift over the past two seasons with the Avalanche — for whom he totaled 93 points (30 goals, 63 assists) over 122 games across the 2023-24 and ’24-25 seasons, playing for a coaching staff that included newly minted Isles assistant Ray Bennett. Like Anthony Duclair, the winger the Isles signed on July 1 last year, Drouin does have a dotted injury history and has rarely played a full season, including just 43 games this past season.
In Duclair’s case, that history came back to bite the Islanders when he suffered a groin injury just a few games into the season. That kept Duclair out until late December and affected his game all year upon returning, leading to an ugly end to his season when coach Patrick Roy publicly questioned his effort.
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