i love you as certain dark things are to be loved

The Essentials

Jo is a pass-first playmaker with incredible vision. A write-up about him right before he was drafted: “He has incredible hockey sense, elite vision and some of the best puck skills, if not the best, in the draft. His creativity and ability to make his teammates better when he hits the ice gives him the edge.”

One of Nathan MacKinnon’s best friends (read: soulmate), he's Nate’s “favorite teammate he’s ever had” (direct quote)

Famously great locker room presence. Beloved, and vocally defended, by all of his teammates. Media darling among the Avs beat reporters. Always gives the media 100%, never says no, very thoughtful. 

Very private. Has two children (with the third on the way summer 2025) and we know next to nothing about them except Jo is a DOTING father. 

Also loves his big white fluffy dog, Mallow.

Mental Health King!! Very outspoken about his struggles with anxiety and insomnia during his time in Montreal, and talks a lot about how important a his support system alongside professional help was to get him back to playing again

SAYS he’s 5’11, but is probably lying because he is only two apples tall 

He has cutie patootie disease and it’s terminal. AND an energizer bunny - has said himself he’d die in a zombie apocalypse because he’d need to go outside and go for a walk.

Chronic face-toucher and certified yapper (in both French and English) 

Tiny, itty-bitty hands (can not palm a basketball confirmed)

The Eras

What, You’ve Never Had a Homeoerotic Friendship Before?? (Early Life - Halifax Mooseheads)

Jo’s family: Serge, Brigitte, and older brother Maxime 

His parents worked at a youth center for underprivileged kids that Jo visited as a kid (and joined in on the older kids’ hockey games there), which his agent says was influential on him

Says his parents were demanding, his dad worked overtime a lot, cared a lot that Jo was trying his hardest in hockey

Also Jo’s agent: Allan Walsh. Not technically family, but a recurring character in this. Also known as the man who iconically tweeted the graphic of Fleury being stabbed in the back by the VGK front office. 

Met Nathan MacKinnon for the first time at around 8-9 years old when they played together in a tournament in Montreal

They also faced off at the 2011 Canada Games in Halifax

Drafted by the Halifax Mooseheads with the number 2 pick of the QJMHL draft in 2011 after the Mooseheads had three terrible seasons in a row

Nate was drafted by Baie-Comeau, but didn’t want to play for them since he didn’t speak French and was so far away from home, and even started skating with the USHL team which had also drafted him (Omaha Lancers)

The Mooseheads really wanted Nate to be a “hometown savior”. There’s talk of sending Jo to Baie-Comeau in exchange for Nate, but they didn’t want to give up Jo in a trade now that they had him, so they finally managed a deal with Baie-Comeau so they could keep both Nate and Jo

But Jo doesn’t show up to Mooseheads training camp because he toured some universities and is still interested in going to college, so he wanted to keep NCAA eligibility by staying with his AAA team

The Halifax GM and coach have lunch with Jo and his agent to convince him to come to Halifax, but Jo’s still not convinced

While he’s still on his AAA team at the beginning of the 2011-2012 season, Jo’s getting bored, doesn’t feel like he’s getting better, and apparently watches Mooseheads highlights 

Nate convinces Jo to come to Halifax:

We used to talk on Facebook a little bit. It was kinda like online dating, we just talked on facebook. Never met before, but I was just like, ‘What are you doing, come to Halifax, we need you here.’ (x)

They were super codependent best friends in Halifax

Nate drove Jo to practice and to school and took late night walks together

Iconically, there are two videos where a local media guy followed Jo and Nate around while they were driving to practice. Essential viewing (here and here)

Nate would carry Jo’s bags for him like the passenger princess he is 

Jo’s agent Allan on the chemistry:

“Their ability to communicate with each other almost became psychic”

They weren’t road roommates typically, but the one time they did room together, Nate says “Jo is quiet and good”

They both say “We complete each other” and have insane social media presences

Team Canada - World Juniors

Played on Team Canada together for WJC 2013 and that’s when we found out that Jo’s so hyper that they had to tie him to the bed to calm him down. His nickname was ‘Hurricane Drouin’. My man is a yapper.

Jo shined at World Juniors; in fact, he had such a good performance that he shot up in the draft rankings; was on the first line with nineteen-year-olds when he was just 17. (Nate was relegated to the fourth line and had a rough tourney but that’s a story for another day). 

The Mooseheads were incredible in 2012-2013 on their way to winning the Memorial Cup, breaking the QJMHL record for victories in a season

Jo wins QMJHL MVP & CHL Player of the Year 

Also wins QMJHL Playoff MVP with the most assists and points for the run-up Presidents Cup

All My Homies Hate Stevie Y (Tampa) 

Source for this section is this incredible post on tumblr. 

Jo is drafted third overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning (after Nate at 1 to CO and Sasha Barkov at 2 to FLA) 

Jo was sent back for one more year of juniors (which sucked bc he had to watch Nate play his first season in with the Avs and win the Calder for best rookie that season)

He was third in scoring in the regular season (108 points in 46 games) and absolutely explosive during the playoffs (41 points in 16 games)

Jo was expected to make the Lightning for the 2014-2015 season, but he was injured during training camp and subsequently sent down to the Syracuse Crunch, the Lightning’s AHL affiliate (and thus begins an incredibly rocky relationship with the Tampa FO)

Ends up playing 70 games up in the NHL that season, but his play is underwhelming (4 goals, 32 points)

He was healthy scratched during the playoffs

Okay this is where it gets dramatic – during the 15-16 season, Jo had a really rough time with injuries and didn’t play much. On January 2, he was sent down to the AHL. The next day, his agent (Allan, you remember Allan) makes public the fact that Jo had made a trade request back in November. On January 20, Jo is suspended without pay by the Lightning organization for failing to show up to a Crunch game. 

This whole season is a bit of a shitshow for Jo. He ends up getting recalled for the playoffs and has a great showing – 5 goals and 14 points in 17 playoff games. He allegedly reconciles with the front office but you can tell the vibes are off. 

The reporting about Jo during his time in Tampa LOVES to call this an ‘ego play’. The truth seems to be, he was getting shitty minutes that continued to diminish along with his confidence. Head Coach Jon Cooper also admits that he was too harsh on Jo. Whenever Jo fucked up - and he did, he fucked up because in his first season he was a 19-year-old kid trying to transition from the QMJHL to the NHL - Coop immediately docked ice time. That makes it difficult to elevate a player’s ability.

This is the first place we learn that no one is harder on Jo than he is on himself. He used to bagskate himself after bad games. (Takes being his own worst critic to the next level.)

The One Where We Learned Jo is Not a Center (Montreal)

After the 2016-17 season, Jo is traded to the Habs for defense prospect Mikhail Sergachev. This is his hometown team (although famously his favorite team growing up was the Avs because of Peter Forsberg, but that’s neither here nor there) 

People treated this trade as a “homecoming” and expectations for Jo as a bright young star were insane. (Cue foreboding music.)

Bergevin immediately signs him to a 6-year, $33M contract and announces he’ll be playing center. (We love Jo, so much, but this is a position he hadn’t played regularly since juniors, and to this day, none of us know what they were thinking.)

The experiment immediately fails. This is not helped by the Habs at-the-time ongoing identity crisis. Lines constantly in a blender, meanwhile Jo is struggling with faceoffs and consistency and the defensive responsibilities of a center. It is not a fit.

Over the next few seasons, Jo’s narrative becomes one that is defined by inconsistency. Occasional flashes of brilliance and plays that make you think “holy fuck, how did he do that?” On the flip side, he’s plagued by injuries and slumps. 

Montreal’s media & fanbase—notoriously brutal and vicious and feral, especially with homegrown players—turn on Jo in a major way. Everything that has gone wrong with the Habs’ roster and development is being blamed on the Jo-trade and all of his play following. 

In the interest of being unbiased - was Jo playing his best? No he was not! But—as proved by the later Colorado experiment—he’s a gifted playmaker when he’s utilized right, which is not what Montreal was doing. 

Even so, Jo is staunchly a room & community guy, and was not going to let bad people dull his sparkle. Former teammates like Josh Anderson*, Phil Danault, Nick Suzuki and Shea Weber—to name just a few—have all gone on the record to say what a good guy Jo is, and what a great teammate to have he is. Jo did a lot of philanthropy and one time even bought tickets for then-rookie Suzuki’s family. Possibly (probably) more than once. 

*Josh Anderson is a smokeshow and him being within ten feet of Jo at any given time caused Nate to lose sleep at night. 

In 2021, Jo famously enters the NHLPA Program for mental health reasons related to anxiety and insomnia. Yes, you read that right, his treatment in Montreal was so violently awful that it drove him into a mental health crisis bad enough he was forced into a leave of absence. 

He makes a return the following season, but it’s far from triumphant. He’s candid with everything he’s been through, but in regards to the Montreal market, the damage is done. They want him gone. 

Jo finishes his time with the Habs with 2 goals in 58 games and is not offered an extension. Hits free agency.

Soulmates Reunited (Avs) 

After having #NotaGreatTime his last few years in Montreal, Jo was staring down the barrel of free agency. Who should appear to him but Nathan MacKinnon (famously an armchair GM, affectionately) for the Avs.

Nate and Jo gave a great interview about what happened between them to make Jo give Colorado a try. One of our favorite accidental-RPF pieces of content ever. TLDW: Nate called Jo up out of the blue and begged him to take a discount to come play with the Avs. Jo, who didn’t have many enticing options, agrees. 

Here’s the “Get to Know Jo” interview the Avs team did to welcome him in :) 

The expectations are low from the get-go. Early pre-season pictures surface of Nate and Jo spending time together, and if nothing else, Fans-of-Jo are taking comfort in the fact that Jo looks happy again. 

Jo’s season starts slow; he doesn’t score until 14 games in (off of a pass from Nate).

Nate and Jo would stay after EVERY PRACTICE to get extra time skating together and doing one-timers.

Jo finishes his first season with 56 points in 79 games! No questions asked, he earned a long-term roster spot with the Avs. Unfortunately, this is when the evil powers that may be—led by Avs GM Chris MacFarland—offer him a gentleman’s deal of 1y x 2.5m.

It’s a Gentleman’s Deal because the subtext, as everyone understood it, was: “Bear with us while we figure out the cap situation with Landeskog and Nichushkin. We’ll be able to offer you more $ and more term when that’s done.”

Nathan MacKinnon, in the press conference for his Hart trophy, calls Jo his favorite teammate he’s ever played with. No, that’s not made up. Yes it’s real. 

Nate and Jo yap on the bench together and Nate has zero concept of personal space

They walk their dogs together and carpool (like they did in Juniors!)

Both Nate and Jo achieved career highs in points playing on the same line! Nate also has the most assists on Jo’s goals and Jo loves to pass to Nate

Mikko and Jo became besties too! They got paired for all of the Avs’ social media activities, like hot potato. They were constantly walking in together and goofing off together and very publicly (as public as Jo gets) friends. 

But then, Season 2 rolls around, and the dominos for Jo’s departure start to fall:

The Avs trade Rantanen for Nečas

Val returns from injury

Landeskog returns from injury

Jo (and the entire roster) underperforms in the 2025 playoffs. 

As a result of aforementioned stuff, evil Chris MacFarland puts all his eggs in the basket of Lehkonen, Landeskog, Nichushkin and Nečas. 

(Ask any smart Avs fan and they’ll tell you this is not a good idea. Their depth is officially shit and if one of these guys get hurt, they’re even more fucked.)

(This is not just me being biased because they reneged on Jo’s Gentleman’s Deal. It’s not.)

There is officially no space left for Jo in the roster. Jo signs for 2 years x 4m with the New York Islanders.

Nate would hold Jo like this during cellies!!!

Except someone (free agency) did take him away :(

The Next Chapter (Jo to the Isles)

All of the Avs beat reporters tweeted about how Jo was seriously one of the best guys in the room. Always sweet and happy to chat and a really thoughtful conversationalist.   

Still figuring this part out, but here’s what we know so far:

Jo played with Horvat and Pelech at World Juniors and with Duclair at the Ivan Hlinka tournament in 2012-13 (along with Nate!)

There’s this cute photo of Jo and Duclair from Team Canada! Posted by Duclair himself, so we like to think he’s excited to have Jo :)