Under Pressure: In Defence of Montreal Canadiens Jonathan Drouin
Montreal Canadiens Jonathan Drouin has all of the offensive tools to be a successful top 6 forward, but will his defensive liabilities, and his response to pressure, fail him.
Jonathan Drouin of the Montreal Canadiens is an uber-talented, offensive whiz kid, who can weave through opposing defences at will, with spectacular stick-handing, an uncanny passing ability, and a highly accurate shot. He can also be a lackadaisical defensive liability, who looks, at best, disinterested in utilizing his teammates; and, at worst, resembles a lazy, selfish, and overpaid under producer for the Montreal Canadiens.
So, what type of player do we have in Drouin? I argue that we have much more of the former than the latter, and I will provide a defence of that position…
Let us start with Drouin’s defence at the beginning-his glory days with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL. During his time there, under the tutelage of the now Montreal Canadiens assistant coach, Dominique Ducharme, Jonathan was one of the most elite offensive players in the whole league, even the entire CHL.
His offensive numbers prove that point. His statistics from season one were: 33 GP, 7G, 23A, 29 points; with 26 points in 17 playoff games as a rookie. Season two: 49 GP, 41G, 64A, 105 points, with 35 points in 17 playoff games.
The Mooseheads went on to win the Memorial Cup that year (2013) with Drouin getting five assists in the final game vs the Portland Winterhawks. That momentous performance, on such a huge junior stage as the Memorial Cup (albeit, still a junior one, not an NHL one), indicates that he can “come up big in big games.” He performs exceptionally in games that matter.
In season three his numbers were: 46 GP, 29G, 79A, 108 points, with an incredible 41 points in just 16 postseason games. Those numbers speak for themselves, and that immense offensive talent is the main reason the Tampa Bay Lightning selected him 3rd overall in the 2013 draft.
When it came time to jump to the NHL, Drouin made the big club directly from major junior. He did quite well for a rookie, playing in 70 games, and notching 32 points. Again suggesting that he can play well when pushed onto a larger stage. After that, he spent a few up and down seasons split between Tampa Bay and their AHL farm club, the Syracuse Crunch.
While he had reasonable success at the AHL and NHL levels, Drouin disagreed with the way he was being deployed by then-GM Steve Yzerman and Tampa Bay management and therefore requested a trade. Yzerman was in no rush to trade the budding young star and waited until he found the right trading partner, ultimately trading him to the Montreal Canadiens for young stud defenceman, Mikhail Sergachev.
During his last season in Tampa Bay, while under the constant pressure that comes with being a player who has asked to be traded from the organization, Drouin put up more than respectable numbers. He played in 73 games that season (2016-17), and once again, contributed 21 goals, 32 assists, and 53 overall points to the offence. He was a key factor in Tampa’s success.
Jonathan Drouin, the 6’0, 193 lbs forward from St. Agathe, Quebec called it a “dream come true” to play for his hometown Montreal Canadiens. The Habs immediately signed Drouin to a lucrative six-year contract at 5.5 million AAV, making him the highest-paid forward on the team.
With a new club and a fresh start, Jonathan hoped to build upon a solid season in Tampa. The future looked brilliant for Drouin at that point, and Montreal Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin agreed. Bergy figured he landed the elite French Canadian scorer that the organization perpetually longed to possess. Things have not quite worked out that way… At least, not in Drouin’s first or second season playing for the Habs, but that is likely to change this season.
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During his first year with Montreal Canadiens (2017-18), Drouin put up half-decent numbers, 77 GP, 13-23-36, underwhelming by his own, and management’s, expectations. However, we must keep in mind that the then 22-year-old was facing a new kind of pressure, one that was self-imposed, carrying the burden of being the new would-be French Canadian scoring star on his shoulders. The pressure from management, teammates, fans, the media, the city of Montreal, and Jonathan Drouin himself, all conspired to hamper his dream and turned into what must be considered a mediocre season.
Season two started off smashingly for Jonathan. Early in the season, he established incredible chemistry with Max Domi. Both players exhibit similar skill sets and hockey IQs, so they meshed extremely well, and both produced at a high rate offensively. Their play together slowly deteriorated as both players attempted to find each other too often, focusing on igniting a highlight-reel play, rather than making the simple pass, or taking the simple shot.
Coach Julien separated the two when he observed their penchant for trying too hard to find the other. Drouin was guilty of this over-complicating plays more than Domi as evidenced in their final stats.
Max Domi had a remarkably consistent season of high offensive production, playing in all 82 games and totalling 72 points. Drouin, conversely, only did so for the first two-thirds of the season, ending it on a horrendous note, garnering a meagre six points in the final 26 games. Ironically, even in this colossal collapse of production down the stretch, Drouin still tied his personal best offensive season with 53 points.
What if he did produce more? What if his usage on the Habs power play were better? How many points would he have had? If he tied his personal best offensive season playing so poorly for the last 26 games, just how well would he have done if he played a little more consistently and correctly? I venture that his point total would have been close to Max Domi’s.
So why did Jonathan Drouin have such an epic cold streak during the last one-third of the season?
Pressure.
As games became tougher with the playoffs approaching, Drouin tried doing “too much” to help the Montreal Canadiens win games. He gripped the stick more tightly; he tried one too many moves. At times, he tried to do it all himself.
He deferred to admitting this fact at the locker cleanout at the end of last season. He said he had a minor injury and we would “see” later. The injury turned out to be a broken nose from a previous time. Could that “minor injury” really explain his struggles as the season closed? I doubt it. Inherent pressure stifled his abilities.
Early signs from the 2019-20 preseason were also underwhelming for Drouin. He played in the five-game maximum for veterans and did not perform well. He was briefly placed on the first line, reunited with Max Domi, in the hope of reigniting their chemistry; the reunion was short-lived when coach Julien moved Drouin down the lineup later in the same game.
Julien is a stickler for defensively responsible players, and Drouin struggles with that aspect of the game. Tampa Bay coach, Jon Cooper, said in 2015 that Drouin needed to learn that, “there is more than one net in the rink.” That same sentiment was echoed a few years later by Syracuse Crunch coach, Rob Zettler: “His play away from the puck has got to be better, and I think he knows that.” Many offensive stars like Drouin take time to learn how to play well defensively. It is still a work in progress.
To address some of his offensive and defensive shortcomings, Jonathan recruited Dominique Ducharme in the offseason to mull over game tape, and pour over the minutiae of what makes him so impactful in some games, and also what makes him a passenger in some others. This usage of development guru, Ducharme, cannot be overstated. He was Drouin’s coach in Halifax, and he knows how to get the best out of his young star.
At the Montreal Canadiens’ annual golf tournament, shortly before the preseason, Drouin said: “I have to be less conservative and get into the dirty areas more […] I put a little too much pressure on myself when things didn’t go my way for five or six games, and it carried over for 25 or 30 games until the end of the season.”
Combine the trained eye of Ducharme, along with a formidable offseason of training, and we will see a much better version of him this upcoming season.
It is no secret that, as Sportsnet’s Eric Engels put it, Jonathan Drouin’s name is “out there” in trade rumours. TSN also has the young forward on its infamous “Hot Seat.” As it appears at this point, Drouin will be starting the season on the third line, flanking Jesperi Kotkaniemi-an excellent two way forward. That fixture may be just what Drouin needs to rediscover his scoring touch and learn more defensive responsibility. Ultimately, it is management’s responsibility to put Drouin in a position to succeed.
Athletes must learn to deal with external and internal pressures. Jonathan Drouin is learning a whole other level of “pressure” playing as the hometown boy in hockey-mad Montreal. As Shakespeare says in Hamlet: “Things are neither good nor bad, but thinking makes it so.” Drouin could learn much from that maxim.
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The pressure just is, it is there; it’s how one perceives, interprets, synthesizes and reacts to it that matters most, especially for professional athletes. This upcoming season is likely the one where Drouin puts the pressure in perspective and overcomes it, becoming the young star fans envision he can be. The Montreal Canadiens are a better team with a focused and determined Jonathan Drouin in their lineup.