There are now three Avalanche players who were chosen in the top 10 of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. Could they reunite on a line this season?

The Colorado Avalanche shook things up at the start of free agency. One move brought a former junior hockey teammate and 2013 NHL Draft classmate of Nathan MacKinnon’s to Denver.

MacKinnon was the No. 1 pick that year and his Halifax Mooseheads’ teammate, Jonathan Drouin, was picked No. 3 overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning. The two played together in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for two years where they won the Memorial Cup in 2013 before being drafted.

Drouin said he and MacKinnon had several text conversations about him joining the Avalanche. 

“Obviously I’ve known Nate (MacKinnon) for a while now, so to get a text from him at this time in my career. This was something I was looking forward to, not only Nate but everyone on Colorado Avalanche,” Drouin said in a media conference on July 3.

Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said in a conference on July 1 that MacKinnon played the role of an “honorary member of the scouting department” as he was consulted about bringing Drouin to the team.

“Such a great opportunity for me and they’re such a great team,” Drouin said. “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.”

Could Drouin play on the top line with MacKinnon?

It’s been 10 years since the forwards played together, but they played well when they did. Could there be a reunion on MacKinnon’s top line?

“I believe Drouin’s skillset will definitely play well with our other skilled players, so I can easily envision him getting looks with Nathan, you know (Ryan) Johansen, whoever that Bedsy (coach Jared Bednar) wants to see in the top six,” MacFarland said.

But of course, Drouin will have to earn that spot. And while he was only signed to a year contract, he no doubt could help the team during Gabriel Landeskog’s absence.

“Coach Bednar will have a lot of flexibility and a lot of different options to try different things,” MacFarland said.

But one other possibility is a complete 2013 NHL Draft class reunion line – with Valeri Nichushkin. He was picked 10^th overall by the Dallas Stars and could possibly end up on a line with MacKinnon and Drouin.