Mooseheads eye Monday return for Drouin, MacKinnon

Being the top team in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League comes with many advantages. For the top-ranked Halifax Mooseheads, who are 21 points ahead of their closest rival, one of those advantages is patience.

There is no great push to have star forwards Jonathan Drouin or Nathan MacKinnon -- both sidelined with lower body injuries -- rush back to the lineup. They will both miss Friday night's game against the Moncton Wildcats, but are expected to return soon.

"The target date right now (for both of them) is probably Monday," said Halifax general manager Cam Russell on Friday. "We play at home against Bathurst."

The pair, when you factor in the world junior championship and Top Prospects Game, have already played more hockey than most juniors in the QMJHL. So the rest is welcome as the Mooseheads prepare for what they hope is a long post-season run to the President's Cup.

"If it was playoff hockey, they'd be playing right now," said Russell. "We're fortunate that we locked up first place and it's nice to be in a position where you don't have to rush guys back. You can rest them. They've played so much hockey that rest for them is a weapon right now."

MacKinnon and Drouin with more weapons? That's the last thing their QMJHL opponents needed to hear. Both players are already highly touted prospects for June's NHL entry draft.

It's been a while since teams have had to face the dynamic duo together. MacKinnon, 17, hasn't played since Feb. 8, when he apparently caught his skate in a rut during a game against the Wildcats and tweaked his knee.

(Video starts at 0:20 and MacKinnon catches the rut at the 0:39 second mark)

Drouin, who turns 18 later this month, was injured on March 2, after a knee-on-knee collision in a game against the Val-d’Or Foreurs. No player ever likes to sit out, but the stakes are a little higher for Drouin, who is currently battling for the QMJHL scoring title.

At the time of this writing, the native of Huberdeau, Que., is tied with P.E.I Rocket forward Ben Duffy for the QMJHL lead. Both players have 98 points, even though Drouin (39 goals and 59 assists) has only appeared in 45 games, which is 18 (18!) fewer games than Duffy.

Sunaya Sapurji is the Junior Hockey Editor at Yahoo! Sports.
Email: sunaya@yahoo-inc.com | Twitter @Sunayas