St. Louis Blues to buy out former NY Islanders forward Jonathan Drouin

In less than a year, two NHL teams have decided it was time to move on from Jonathan Drouin.

The St. Louis Blues announced Tuesday that the veteran forward has been placed on waivers for the purpose of a contract buyout after appearing in just nine games with the club. Drouin joined the Blues at the trade deadline as part of the deal that sent captain Brayden Schenn to the New York Islanders.

Drouin's brief tenure in St. Louis followed an uneven season with the Islanders, who signed the former third-overall pick last summer in hopes that he could add offense and help improve the team's power play. Instead, Drouin struggled to produce consistently after a promising start, falling into a prolonged scoring slump that began in November. He finished with three goals and 18 assists in 55 games with the Isles before being traded.

The decision by St. Louis to buy out the final year of Drouin's contract suggests the Blues also concluded that the 31-year-old no longer fit into their plans. Drouin recorded one goal and two assists in nine games after joining St. Louis and had one season remaining on a contract carrying a $4 million cap hit.

For the Islanders, Drouin's departure became a necessary part of acquiring Schenn at the trade deadline. At the time, the move appeared to be primarily a salary cap decision. In hindsight, the fact that St. Louis moved on after only nine games indicates that both organizations reached a similar conclusion regarding Drouin's future role.

Selected third overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2013 NHL Draft, Drouin has recorded 111 goals and 287 assists in 671 NHL games. Despite flashes of the offensive skill that made him one of hockey's top prospects, Drouin now finds himself searching for another opportunity after two teams decided, in less than a year, that it was time to move on.

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