Canadiens: Drouin Returns And Needs To Step Up

The Montreal Canadiens announced a couple of surprises during Saturday morning’s optional practice notably with the presence of Carey Price. Also there was Jonathan Drouin. However, minutes after the team announced that he was still day-to-day, suddenly Drouin will be making his return against the Ottawa Senators.

This is obviously great news for Martin St. Louis as the team is currently without Brendan Gallagher, Josh Anderson and Ryan Poehling up front. Tyler Pitlick, who has yet to make his Canadiens debut, is also still injured.

Drouin has been out of the lineup since January 26th with an “upper-body injury”.

What exactly the nature of the injury remains a mystery, but sources in the industry claim it was a shoulder injury combined with his wrist still giving him issues. In happier news he did became a father for the first time just recently. There is a possibility that the team gave Drouin some extra time off so he can be there for the birth of his child, giving the team was going nowhere in the standings anyway.

Now this is where things get interesting. Jonathan Drouin has not played a game for Martin St. Louis as of yet. Christian Dvorak also recently tasted St. Louis’ “concept” for the first time against the Dallas Stars and already looked more comfortable.

In a system that’s aimed on speed and talent, Drouin has a golden opportunity to showcase his talent and up his value. As we stand, Drouin has one more year left on his contract with a $5.5 million cap hit. Unless an absolute surprise, he will be wearing a Canadiens jersey at next year’s training camp because his value is at an all time low.

According to Daily Faceoff, at the time of this writing Jonathan Drouin is slated to play on a line with Christian Dvorak and Artturi Lehkonen. Meanwhile, in a clear case of trade exposure, Joel Armia will replace Josh Anderson on the top line with Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki.

On the surface it looks like Drouin is a tough character to coach. He wasn’t happy with Ducharme, although no one seemed to be, he struggled under Claude Julien and had occasional pout battles with Michel Therrien. Add to that his history with arguing with Jon Cooper while in Tampa Bay for more ice time, and it’s clear why Drouin got himself a reputation of being a whiner.

However, everyone has changed under Martin St. Louis. Maybe Drouin will enjoy playing again for longer stretches and finally show us what he’s truly capable of.

Also, becoming a parent changes you. Anyone who is a parent can guarantee you that life looks completely different now that you’re responsible for a little one. Maybe this will help with his focus and end up playing harder and up to his true potential.

Drouin will never score 50 goals in the NHL. However he is still only 26 years old and he cannot be the player we have seen the past 3 seasons. We want to see the Drouin who was all over the ice during the 2019-20 playoffs where he amassed 7 points in 10 games.

Maybe he just needs a pep talk like Maurice Richard once got from coach Dick Irvin (played by the ever talented Stephen McHattie) as depicted in the movie The Rocket.

"“Check your skates for cement. Something’s got to be slowing you down. Maybe you’re too old. Maybe we can fix you up with walker. Put some little blades on it. Or we can ask the youngsters to help you skate around. I don’t wanna see Maurice tonight, I want the Rocket!”"

Let me make this absolutely clear before the comments section blows up, Drouin is no Rocket, but he definitely needs to step it up from the second he hits the ice again. This guy has more talent in his pinkie than anyone on the team but never seems to want to use it at full capacity. No more excuses. He needs to prove not just to the fans but to himself that he belongs on that ice.

Give him the Dick Irvin treatment, Martin. That’ll fire anyone up.