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Montreal Canadiens: Jonathan Drouin is ready to play either position

By Omar L

TORONTO, ON - MARCH 17: Jonathan Drouin #92 of the Montreal Canadiens sets to take a face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at the Air Canada Centre on March 17, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - MARCH 17: Jonathan Drouin #92 of the Montreal Canadiens sets to take a face off against the Toronto Maple Leafs during the third period at the Air Canada Centre on March 17, 2018 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Jonathan Drouin went through his first NHL season at centre for the Montreal Canadiens but welcomes playing either position next year.

The main debate among the Montreal Canadiens was whether Jonathan Drouin could excel at playing centre. The 23-year-old had never played down the middle professionally, but it was an interesting experiment to pursue. Drouin also drove a lot of offence on the wing in Tampa, and his comfort with skating with the puck made imagining him at centre an optimistic daydream.

Drouin was the team’s top line centre for the majority of the season, save for one game, that saw some bright and dark spots. Many quickly set their opinion on whether he could be a long-term centre option for the Montreal Canadiens. Marc Bergevin‘s comments ahead of that Vancouver Canucks game didn’t help to settle the situation.

Now we sit on the heels of a disappointing 2017-18 regular season with an uplifting offseason highlighted by Montreal’s success at the 2018 NHL Draft with the same question. Will the Habs play Drouin at centre in October?

Odds are the coaching staff is, but it’ll depend on future offseason moves. At the same time, Drouin down the middle looks to be a project Bergevin and Claude Julien are invested in. But if you ask the Quebec native, it doesn’t look like he minds what position he plays next season.

You’re not going to expect any answer other than the one Drouin said. His overall play looked to be improved when he was in between Paul Byron and Brendan Gallagher. It’ll be up to Julien to decide whether he goes with that again as his top line.

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