Jonathan Drouin – Max Domi – Paul Byron
Jonathan Drouin struggled mightily to finish the 2018-19 season with the Montreal Canadiens. At locker cleanout day he suggested we would soon find out why that was and left it at that. A few weeks later it was reported he needed to have nose surgery to repair an injury from years ago.
I guess, that means the injury didn’t bother him until two-thirds of the way through this season, even though it occurred while he was still a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning? I dunno, it seemed odd to me but if we believe him, he was injured to end the year and that is why he struggled.
If you look at his start to the season, it was pretty good. He had seven points in his last 26 games, but that means he started the year with 46 points in 54 games. So, he had an awesome first two-thirds of the season, but then stopped scoring for the final third.
At the age of 24, isn’t it possible he finds more consistency next season and scores closer to the 46 in 54 pace than the seven in 26 rate to end the season? Of course it is. Drouin is going to be really good next season.
Another player acquired via trade like most of the top six apparently, was Max Domi. Another player that was immediately met with jeers from a lot of Habs fans upon arrival was Max Domi. When he was acquired just over a year ago straight up for Alex Galchenyuk, there were more people calling for Marc Bergevin to be fired than there were calling Domi to be a near point-per-game first line center.
However, Domi went out and scored 72 points in 82 games in his first season with the Habs. He’s also 24 and due for another big season as he heads toward restricted free agency in a year.
The only downside to having Drouin play with Domi is they aren’t the best defensive minded players in the league. So, you fix that by putting Paul Byron on their wing. He would have to switch from left to right wing but his speed, smarts, two-way game and never quit attitude would help overcome that small barrier no problem.
Oh, and Byron scored 15 goals and 31 points in just 56 games last season. He is a bit of a surprise addition to a team’s top six after being acquired via waivers, but he could easily score 25 goals and 55 points playing with Domi and Drouin next season.
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