A Winning Habit
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Under Pressure: In Defence of Montreal Canadiens Jonathan Drouin

By Curt MacLellan

MONTREAL, QC - SEPTEMBER 16: Montreal Canadiens left wing Jonathan Drouin (92) waits for a faceoff during the New Jersey Devils versus the Montreal Canadiens preseason game on September 16, 2019, at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - SEPTEMBER 16: Montreal Canadiens left wing Jonathan Drouin (92) waits for a faceoff during the New Jersey Devils versus the Montreal Canadiens preseason game on September 16, 2019, at Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
TAMPA, FL – MARCH 27: Jonathan Drouin Montreal Canadiens (Photo by Scott Audette/NHLI via Getty Images) /

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.

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