Montreal Canadiens: 7 Talking Points From Past 7 Days

3. Jonathan Drouin

Another week, another talking point about the evolution of Jonathan Drouin (I swear I’m not a fanboy). I said last week that Drouin’s first period under Ducharme’s tenure as head coach was the best he’d played in the Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, and I stand by that, though his performances this week threatened to make that statement obsolete. Drouin and Kotkaniemi are most definitely the two players that impressed me the most over the past week of play, with Joel Edmundson claiming my personal third star.

Drouin truly seems to be free to use his skill set to its fullest since Ducharme took over and it is a joy to watch. He has been very good all season, significantly better than his 2 goals and 15 points in 22 games would suggest. But this past week, he has been the player Marc Bergevin believed he was getting in the Sergachev trade. He slows the game down, dances around the offensive zone with no defender getting near the puck and creates holes for his teammates to take advantage of; he’s dangerous.

He may have only recorded 2 assists in the 3 games this week, both of which came on Thursday, but the points – and goals – will come if he keeps playing the way he is. His confidence seems sky-high and his play in the defensive zone has remained solid. It has only been 4 games since Ducharme took charge and since Drouin seems to have unlocked his offensive flair, and it must be recognized how small of a sample this is.

However, his solid, if unspectacular play to start the season, demonstrates that his current play is based on a solid foundation that he can fall back on when he hits a rut. I’m optimistic that Jonathan Drouin will play a whole lot more like a first-line winger than a second-line winger from this point onward.