Canadiens: Jonathan Drouin and the Postseason Turnaround
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.
Throughout most of the playoffs, Montreal’s main issue was their offense, with Captain Shea Weber leading the team in scoring early on, with five points in ten games overall. However, against Philadelphia, a few more players answered the call, with rookies Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi tying for the team lead in goals with four. After posting an impressive 41 points in his rookie season, Suzuki’s seven points tied him for first on the Habs in scoring with Drouin.
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Following a very shaky and misled performance in the qualifier against the Penguins, Drouin finally settled into a groove not seen since November 11th, when he posted his final two points of the regular season in a win against the Los Angeles Kings.
In the final two games of the Flyers series, Drouin posted four assists, for a total of one goal and six assists overall. While not having amazing numbers, it marked a welcome return to the Drouin Habs fans have continuously seen glimpses of over his past three seasons with the team.
Originally a third overall pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2013, Drouin was traded to Montreal in exchange for the Canadiens ninth overall pick in 2016, Mikhail Sergachev. Say what you will about how this trade turned out, but Drouin’s tenure in Montreal, while nowhere near perfect, hasn’t been a complete dud, and these playoffs showcased that further.
Head coach Claude Julien’s tendency to run with the same lines showed itself again in these playoffs, but following a health scare and subsequent hospitalization, interim coach Kirk Muller experimented with some different combinations that allowed Drouin to flourish offensively.
In Game five, Drouin found himself seeing first line minutes alongside similarly hot hands Suzuki and Joel Armia, who combined for six points in the series-deciding loss. For a Canadiens’ team who received little to no offensive support from regular-season leaders like Tomas Tatar, Max Domi, and Brendan Gallagher, having players like Drouin step up was a huge help for a Habs team that managed to make what should’ve been an easy challenge for the Flyers, a tightly fought series.
In each of his three seasons in Montreal, Drouin has gone through some kind of rough patch or drought that waters down some of the more impressive and encouraging parts that make up an, on paper, solid season.
An essentially lost 2017-18 season for the Habs, in general, didn’t help matters, with Drouin spending most of the season at center, recording 46 points with a -28 rating. An impressive 53 points in a tight-knit 2018-19 season that saw Montreal just barely miss the playoffs ended with Drouin posting three points in the team’s last 20 games, ones that were essential to their post-season chances. A hot start to this season ended with an, as stated, eight-game point drought, so this post-season performance was reassuring, and once again gave Habs a glimpse into the player Drouin can be.
There’s no denying that Drouin is a very inconsistent player, and I believe its something that can’t, for the most part, be fixed or worked on, merely worked around. Some players just have natural issues with their drive, and I find it that
limits Drouin from being the elite player I, and many Canadiens fans believe he can be. With the Habs season just recently ending, trade rumors are going to be quiet for the time being, and I think Drouin should take this time to reflect on what was another up and down campaign overall.
Personally, as I said in March, I think Montreal should stick with Drouin come next year and give him another chance to prove himself as the third overall pick fans expected. He had a solid playoff year, in what was a surprising run for the Habs in general.
Next. The Habs did Trotz and the Islanders a favour. dark
Despite their struggles, the future now looks a bit brighter for the Montreal Canadiens, and I believe that Jonathan Drouin could be a reason why.