Following an impressive performance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Jonathan Drouin’s late resurgence marks a welcome trend for the Montreal Canadiens.
It was an up and down 2019-20 season, both for the Montreal Canadiens and Jonathan Drouin.
About five months ago, in early March, I did a piece on the Saint-Agathe, Quebec native regarding the trade rumors that were beginning to swirl around him once again. At the time, Drouin was going through an eight-game pointless drought after returning from an injury suffered earlier in the season.
At the time, I thought that Drouin was still worth the Canadiens time, given his track record during his junior career, glimpses of brilliance shown in the NHL, and his unbelievably high potential. However, as all of you should know, two days after I posted that article, the NHL suspended play due to the rapidly growing COVID-19 pandemic, which has now disrupted all aspects of our lives.
Because of this, the main conversation turned from the inner workings of the league to whether the league will be able to resume play in the first place. In the end, the NHL devised a return to play plan in three phases, which is now fully underway as the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs kicks off on Saturday.
The Canadiens entered the expanded 24 team playoff format as the 24th and final team, sneaking in after an up and down season with a 31-31-8 record. Against all the odds, however, they upset the heavily favoured Pittsburgh Penguins in four games in the qualifier and put up a great fight against the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round. Despite posting two solid five-goal games, the bounces simply didn’t go the Habs way, with their season now over following a 3-2 loss in game six on Friday.