Montreal Canadiens centre Jonathan Drouin didn’t get much interest from Hockey Canada, but looking at the roster already, it’s no surprise.
The 2018 World Hockey Championships is set to begin this Friday, and the respective rosters are getting finalized. The Montreal Canadiens have two players going in Jacob de La Rose for Sweden and Charlie Lindgren for USA. In an ideal world, Carey Price and Brendan Gallagher would’ve been representatives as well, and perhaps Artturi Lehkonen as well, but the name that has fans scratching their heads a little is Jonathan Drouin.
Team Canada’s roster is set and filled to the brim with talent, but Drouin is absent from it. The 23-year-old expressed his desire to play at the Worlds this summer if invited, but to anyone’s knowledge, a red and white envelope wasn’t sent.
On the surface, it appears to be a bizarre decision. Despite the success of the whole team, Drouin is still one of the more skilled players in the NHL right now. At the end of the season, you would’ve thought that he was a lock to make Team Canada, but here we are. These type of discussion occur all the time at these kinds of events, and it’s coming up with the Worlds as well: was Drouin snubbed by Team Canada?
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Generally, Hockey Canada runs their rosters by having the top two lines as skill lines and the bottom two as grinding-defensive lines. There have also been the ‘all skill’ lines used in the past that have been just as effective.
Canada had Connor McDavid, Brayden Schenn, Mathew Barzal, and Bo Horvat as their centres for Tuesday’s game against Latvia. Not bad depth down the middle, wouldn’t you say? However, Drouin on the wing would be an incredible addition as he’s displayed in the past the ability to drive play from that position.
Left-wing is clogged already, but Drouin is a more talented player than the likes of Anthony Beauvillier and Jean-Gabriel Pageau who are on the right. It looks like the coaching staff wanted to have more defensive responsibility in its lineup opposed to even more skill.
Different aspects of management value different things and as Gord Miller mentioned in a clip on TSN 690, it may be the question of where Drouin fits to justify him being on the team.
On paper, Canada is well-armed as it is and Drouin not getting the first call if not a complete snubbing, is disappointing. Even if he ends up playing on a third or fourth line, it still makes the team better despite the defensive awareness Beauvillier and Pageau bring.
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Unfortunately, that’s the decision that Hockey Canada made. Perhaps Drouin finds his way on the team later on in the tournament, but for now, he’ll have to watch similar to the rest of us.