Montreal Canadiens: Will Jonathan Drouin Find New NHL Home Today?

The Montreal Canadiens may not be big players in free agency today once again. They simply don’t have the roster spots due to so many veteran wingers making big money.

The team also isn’t in a place to contend so they are not looking for that missing piece that will put them over the top. Instead, they will stay quieter and try to pounce on a lower priced player or two that could help them in the long run.

One player that will not be re-signing with the Canadiens and therefore will surely be hitting the open market is Jonathan Drouin. His six year contract that had an annual cap hit of $5.5 million has expired and he is no longer a member of the Canadiens.

Drouin arrived in Montreal six years ago amid a ton of promise and intrigue but it did not pan out. The Canadiens traded away Mikhail Sergachev, who has turned into a fine top four defenseman for the Tampa Bay Lightning and helped them win two Stanley Cups.

Drouin matched a career high with 53 points in his second season in Montreal but it was all downhill from there. He played just 27 games the following season and scored 15 points. In the past three seasons combined he has played a total of 136 games, scored just ten goals and 72 points.

Coming off a season where he scored two goals in 58 games, will there be any suitors out there for Drouin when free agency opens?

I think there will. Obviously his goal scoring has been dreadful for three seasons, but Drouin does have some skill and has put up decently impressive assist totals, even in the past three seasons when he really struggled. His 72 points in 136 games over that time is not much for an offense-first winger.

When you consider 62 of those points are assists, he is averaging 37 helpers per 82 games during that time. That’s not bad, especially when you consider how poor the Canadiens have been for two of those seasons and that goal scoring is constantly an issue in Montreal. In the right situation he could definitely add more than 40 assists next season, which is hardly an improvement on what he has done. Even if he can just add ten goals, someone is adding 50 points to their lineup and it would come cheap.

There are a few teams out there that would welcome that. Luke Richardson was the assistant coach in Montreal when Drouin had his best season and he is now the head coach in Chicago. The Blackhawks are spending money like drunken frat boys and already gave Nick Foligno and Corey Perry $4 million each. They also brought in Taylor Hall because he knows what it takes to be a number one overall pick and he can help guide and mentor Connor Bedard next season.

Drouin was a third overall pick and would at least have some pointers on what to expect with high expectations in a big market. He also does have enough playmaking skills to get Bedard the puck in the slot as well.

Of course, Drouin may want a quieter hockey market and seems like the type of player the Carolina Hurricanes might add for cheap. They have brought in Paul Stastny, Max Pacioretty and Max Domi over the past couple seasons.

Drouin has been linked to the Colorado Avalanche in previous years because of his incredible connection with Nathan MacKinnon in Junior. Who knows? Now that his cap hit will be microscopic compared to the past six seasons, maybe the Avs try to find a cheap replacement in the top six for the injured Gabe Landeskog.

Kyle Dubas loves skill above all other attributes and Drouin looks the part with the puck on his stick. Could he catch on in Pittsburgh on a one year deal to see if he can click with Evgeni Malkin?

With the salary cap barely moving for three straight seasons, teams are limited on what they can do. They just can’t add every player they want, they have to add the players they can afford. I’m sure Colorado would like to add Tyler Bertuzzi to replace Landeksog but they can’t afford to under the salary cap.

A team that is approaching the cap but still wants to get better is going to give Drouin a call. He is going to see an opportunity to prove he is better than what he has shown the past three seasons in Montreal and he will jump on it

He is almost guaranteed to get a one year contract and will probably earn about $1.5 million, but one of these teams trying to get slightly better will sign him when free agency opens.

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