Montreal Canadiens: In Jonathan Drouin’s defence

Jonathan Drouin is having a tough season for the Montreal Canadiens, and the expectations for him ahead of his first game may be making it look worse.

Every team has a new addition to their team who fans can’t stop raving about. Last summer for the Montreal Canadiens, it was Jonathan Drouin. At first, the idea that the Habs were acquiring a young francophone skilled player who had the potential to become a star on the team quickly. The excitement around Drouin intensified after there were whispers that he may play centre for the Habs, virtually solving their number one centre problem.

At least, that’s what the hope was. 68 games later with 10 goals and 23 assists and two stints of injuries, the atmosphere around Drouin isn’t as light as many would hope. There were always doubts about whether the 22-year-old had what it took to play centre and he received ample approval and reassurance from the coaching staff.

However, the wing side of the argument is continuing to take charge. It also doesn’t help that Marc Bergevin said in an ideal world and with a bonafide number one centre Drouin would be on the wing, but that’s been accepted already. Centre or not, Bergevin made it clear that he would’ve made the trade anyway as it was an opportunity to add more forward skill to the team.

That being said, we’ve found ourselves at a point in the season where it’s not just Drouin’s production or ability to play centre that is being put into question, but his effort. It’s tough to deny it though. Drouin has had games where he’s looked incredible using both speed and skill to push play. He’s also been equally as good on the backcheck which has been overwhelming for defending players.

It’s a stat not looked at much, but Drouin leads all Habs players in takeaways with 48. They’ve led to a decent number of scoring chances, but unfortunately, not many goals. Similar to the likes of Charles Hudon and Artturi Lehkonen, Drouin has been very unlucky. He joins them among forwards with low shooting percentages at 7.5% which hasn’t been that bad since a four-goal season as a 19-year-old in 2015 (5.3%).

The lack of effort, and we can use the Tampa Bay Lightning game as the most recent example, can’t be defended. It may be difficult to find that extra gear in a season that will have the team most likely finish at least bottom ten, but it’s still disheartening to see unimpactful shifts from Drouin when you have Brendan Gallagher and Paul Byron playing their heart outs while Alex Galchenyuk continues to improve each game.

So what went wrong? Is playing centre in the NHL as hard as analysts make it seem? Well, yeah. There’s a reason players drafted as centres out of junior spend as much as three seasons on the wing before making the transition to the middle. Those first couple of years in the NHL are a feeling out process to get your legs under you, gain some confidence, and put up points without the burden of the responsibility that comes with playing centre.

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This will be Drouin’s third full season in the NHL and first at centre. But all year he’s been matched up against other team’s shutdown lines and top pairings while at the same time trying to find chemistry with players the Habs expected he’d click with. Max Pacioretty and Ales Hemsky didn’t work, Galchenyuk and Lehkonen did, but they didn’t manage to convert scoring chances as much.

It also doesn’t help that teams have figured out the ‘game plan’ when it comes to Drouin. There have been a lot of instances where Habs players have jumped, at in some cases rushed at the chance to feed the young star the puck be it at even strength or the power play. It’s the right move as Drouin can skate with the puck fairly well, but the amount of times it’s done has made it predictable and easier to shut down.

As frustrating as it will be to see Drouin finish fall from that 60-70 point total that many expected, it’s only the beginning for him. However, it will take a lot of work. Say what you will, but Galchenyuk looks better, and Claude Julien has a hand in that. The signs are there of the player the Habs want in Drouin; it just needs to be brought out each and every game. And that has nothing to do with being a top centre in the league, but it has everything to do with being a top player on the Montreal Canadiens.

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What have you thought of Drouin’s game? What does he have to do to improve as a player for the Habs? Let us know in the comments below.