Value of: Future of Jonathan Drouin

[Guttersniped]

I think if he wants to continue playing, he'll have plenty of suitors on a cheap 1-year deal. Key as mentioned, is where he was the "want to" anymore.

He'd probably still draw a bit of attention of bottom-feeder teams with a ton of minutes and opportunity to offer. Where he'd get a shot at top PP time, prime offensive minutes, whatever.


But i'd like to see him go to a more veteran team looking for a cheap "high upside" reclamation project. There'd surely be some of those too.

Colorado makes sense to me. Chance to play with Nate, in a supporting role without a lot of pressure to produce, but a high flying system that might actually help find some productivity.

Pittsburgh is the one that immediately comes to mind though. They're in a really tough spot and could use an infusion of cheap talent. Who knows if it'd work or not, but the chance to potentially play with Crosby/Malkin still seems like an attractive proposition, and it could be the thing he needs to bring out the raw talent that he presumably does still actually have (and has shown flashes of when he's healthy).


Nashville seems like a possibility who could take a chance on skill now that they've moved out expensive Granlund from that sort of role where Drouin might do well.

Carolina seem to take chances on guys and could use some more skill as well. Though i have a hard time envisioning Drouin thriving in that system.

St.Louis would also be a possibility. He'd offer some high-upside/low-downside skill to whatever is going on with their Retool.

Even Minnesota would be interesting if they think he can play Center. With their buyout imposed cap crunch tightening the belt.


But there are probably a few tank teams like Arizona and Chicago that would take a flyer with rosters that need to be filled out with someone.

He had the six most ATOI on the PP in the Montreal and 9 of assists were on the PP.

He doesn’t sniff that sort of PP on a good team.

2 goals and 18 ES assists in 58 games, with god awful underlying numbers, isn’t going to get him any interest.

If you can’t score goals at all, what’s the point? He can’t play center on scoring line on a good team either, good lord.

Maybe he’s off to Europe unless he wants to play in the AHL though I guess there’s a slim chance a bad NHL team might take him for a minimum deal.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Rest of his career will prob be similar to galchenyuks , prob a few other teams will give him a shot

 

[shaner8989]

Trade him for Sergachev

Realistically though the KHL or maybe a 1 year deal for peanuts somewhere like Zona

 

[SlafySZN]

Nice.

Just realized the number but, yeah

 

[Bouboumaster]

Why not doubling down on our mistakes? We paid Alzner 4M+ and any defenseman in the league was better, better give Victor Mete 3.5M

Drouin the hockey player just isnt very good at this point of his career. He had the talent and perhaps without jnjuries could have carved a longer career as a 50-60 pts scorer, but it just didnt happen.

I also fail to see why so many people link him to Colorado, why would they want him?

What did I just read lol


Is he a superstar?
No

But he produced at a 0.5 pace this year.

That's not amazing but certainly not bad either

He still has 40 points or even 50 points seasons in him

He's much better than any Pezzeta, Tierney, Richard, Condotta, Belzile, Gurianov, Armia, Hoffman, Pitlick, Ylonen, Gallagher and Evans of this World

Slow down on the Haterade a bit and be objective

Put him on second or third line with Anderson and let him do his things

 

[abo9]

What did I just read lol


Is he a superstar?
No

But he produced at a 0.5 pace this year.

That's not amazing but certainly not bad either

He still has 40 points or even 50 points seasons in him

He's much better than any Pezzeta, Tierney, Richard, Condotta, Belzile, Gurianov, Armia, Hoffman, Pitlick, Ylonen, Gallagher and Evans of this World

Slow down on the Haterade a bit and be objective

Put him on second or third line with Anderson and let him do his things

Funny how Belzile produced at a very similar rate to Drouin while playing 3 whole less minutes per game and not seeing the PP (contrary to Drouin who 30% of his production came from the PP).

I'm not even arguing that Belzile is a solid NHL player, but that's the level of player Drouin compares too offensively these days. And he doesn't do much else.

Pros:
- Drouin produces at a 3rd line level
- He is somewhat productive on the powerplay (2nd best on the team in ppp per 60, but we also had one of the worst PPs in the league)
- For the little he's played in the playoffs, he showed up with solid numbers


Cons:
- Bad defensively
- Not good a taking faceoffs
- Doesn't shoot (wasn't a strength before and he shoots even less in the past 3 seasons)
- He doesn't shoot often and his shot isn't dangerous even when he uses it...
- What's a hit? Physical play?
- Doesn't block shots
- Doesn't seem to handle Montreal's pressure well
- Not reliable (in and out of the lineup for health reasons a lot over the past 3 seasons)


And not really a con or a pro, but he's 28. Why not try a guy like Ylonen, who did battle with injuries in previous seasons, but who's 22 and continues to improve each passing year, and costs nothing in terms of money? Just an example, there's probably 200-250 NHL forwards that I'd take over Drouin.

I don't hate Drouin, he did good things in the community and fwiw he seems like a good person, but he's just a player I see is best for him to go to a pressure-free bottom feeder. Montreal isn't it. Where he can play however he likes and be gifted ample PP time and offensive opportunities.

 

[CTHabsfan]

What did I just read lol


Is he a superstar?
No

But he produced at a 0.5 pace this year.

That's not amazing but certainly not bad either

He still has 40 points or even 50 points seasons in him

He's much better than any Pezzeta, Tierney, Richard, Condotta, Belzile, Gurianov, Armia, Hoffman, Pitlick, Ylonen, Gallagher and Evans of this World

Slow down on the Haterade a bit and be objective

Put him on second or third line with Anderson and let him do his things

Mike Hoffman also produced at a 0.5 pace this year (14 goals versus Jo's 2). Guess the Canadiens should put Hoffman on the second line and sign him to an extension before he can become a UFA after next season.

 

[JoelWarlord]

But he produced at a 0.5 pace this year.

That's not amazing but certainly not bad either

That actually is bad production from a player that gets soft minutes, lots of PP time, and is a defensive black hole. He barely outproduced Dvorak in 6 more games and got outproduced by Anderson who sucks on the PP.

He's much better than any Pezzeta, Tierney, Richard, Condotta, Belzile, Gurianov, Armia, Hoffman, Pitlick, Ylonen, Gallagher and Evans of this World

Pezzetta, Richard, and Condotta sure but those guys are AHLers or borderline AHLers. He is absolutely not a better NHLer than the other players listed other than maybe Armia who seems completely cooked now. You have to understand that because he is so bad defensively and brings NOTHING to the table other than scoring, he needs to be scoring a lot more than defensively responsible players to make up for those shortcomings.

Put him on second or third line with Anderson and let him do his things

No. He's been doing his thing on the 2nd or 1st line with top 6 forwards his whole tenure as a Hab and has jack shit to show for it. Why should he get those minutes ahead of Harvey-Pinard, Slafkovsky, Farrell, Heineman, Pitlick, etc. or a good veteran we could sign/trade for instead of a guy that's proven over 6 seasons that he doesn't have it?

 

[I am Canadian]

He's taking a cheap deal with a lower team [Arizona, Sharks, Anaheim etc] where he can play out of the media's attention to try and build up his career again for a better contract.

Imo

 

[biturbo19]

He had the six most ATOI on the PP in the Montreal and 9 of assists were on the PP.

He doesn’t sniff that sort of PP on a good team.

2 goals and 18 ES assists in 58 games, with god awful underlying numbers, isn’t going to get him any interest.

If you can’t score goals at all, what’s the point? He can’t play center on scoring line on a good team either, good lord.

Maybe he’s off to Europe unless he wants to play in the AHL though I guess there’s a slim chance a bad NHL team might take him for a minimum deal.

7th PP TOI/GP on the Habs per the official league statistics. 6th among Forwards. That's 2nd Unit Powerplay minutes.

He'd absolutely get that sort of PP opportunity, even on a good team. Any team that's bringing Drouin in...is going to be doing it for some offensive juice and primarily PP help. It'd be mind-numbingly stupid to bring in a player like Drouin and then refuse to play him in the role he's actually useful in.

As for scoring goals...he's never been a goal-scorer, but playmakers can have value too. Guys who can create assists help to make goals happen.

I don't think any "good teams" would be looking at him as a Center. I mentioned Minnesota as a possibility due to how much they could use a skilled offensive center...but it's still a slim chance. A bad team though? Absolutely think they'd consider him there. The Habs have off and on.


Nobody is going to give him some big/multi-year contract. But on a $1M x 1 type deal? It's wild to think he wouldn't have at least some NHL interest somewhere. If he goes to Europe, it'll be purely a decision to play with a much lower level of pressure and intensity, or to not bother playing on a bottom-feeder.

He's flamed out in Montreal and they've been stuck with him due to that contract. Now that the contract obstacle is out of the way, he should find NHL work just fine if he wants to play, for cheap to prove he can still contribute. He's got boatloads of skill and pedigree, which absolutely buys a guy extra opportunities (see: Galchenyuk, Alex).

 

[Whalers Fan]

I'd resign him in Montréal for 3M$/1Y

We pay Mike Hoffman 4.5M$, Drouin is a better player than him for damn sure

There is no room on next year's roster for Drouin in Montreal. The team already has to carry three underperforming veteran forwards in Gallagher, Armia and Hoffman. With roster space that's needed for the young players, there isn't room for a 4th dead weight forward.

 

[sennysensen]

I think Drouin might retire. He's made lots of money, and doesn't seem to enjoy hockey very much, plus it gives him anxiety.

Or perhaps he plays one more year in a low-pressure market like Columbus for the league minimum, then retires.

Kind of an Alex Daigle story: plays hockey because he's good at it, but doesn't really like everything associated with being an NHL player.

 

[These Are The Days]

Tampa. You people have no idea how great Nikita Kucherov made this young man look

 

[abo9]

I think Drouin might retire. He's made lots of money, and doesn't seem to enjoy hockey very much, plus it gives him anxiety.

Or perhaps he plays one more year in a low-pressure market like Columbus for the league minimum, then retires.

Kind of an Alex Daigle story: plays hockey because he's good at it, but doesn't really like everything associated with being an NHL player.

To be fair to Drouin, I think he wanted it more than Daigle, I dont think he retires.

He also came to Montreal under the worst possible storm almost possible

- local talent
- was a star in juniors and still very young
- had been successful to a degree with Tampa
- came advertised as "the" solution at center
- Galchenyuk, a recent failed prospect, was on his way out
- got traded for a solid prospect at a positon of weakness
- said prospect would come in the league thay same year and put up only 6 pts less as a rookie defenseman
- memories of Gomez vs McDonagh still fresh
- team going into a wall

Recipe for disaster

 

[NoName]

With the explosion of scoring this year and to a lesser extent last, putting up 50 points means a lot less then it did in the 2010’s. Don’t know how much or a role there is for a guy who isn’t seen as a two-way player or especially physical but also isn’t really scoring at a top-6 pace in the modern nhl.

 

[Dr Awesome]

1-2 million dollar deal for one year. I can see him signing with yote

 

[Patagonia]

AVs is my guess. PTO at the league minimum and build afterwards. Low risk and might work like Nishu.

McKinnon connection is the most obvious, insert him into the 3rd line and see where this goes. New deals for Compher, Byram, ERod and Newhook could limit cap space. Drouin fits on a team built on speed and skills. Cheap option with potentially work for both parties.

 

[John Mandalorian]

1-2 million dollar deal for one year. I can see him signing with yote

2 million is too much.

 

[Seb]

I am sure he will find a 1 year deal somewhere and I would not be surprised that once out of the Montreal pressure cooker he will see a revival of his career of sorts. I don't think he will ever be the point per game player that many in Montreal, especially some of the French media, was expecting of him but a 15 goal 50 point player is still very possible.

15 goals for Drouin seems impossible. He just can't score anymore.

 

[Seb]

I think Drouin might retire. He's made lots of money, and doesn't seem to enjoy hockey very much, plus it gives him anxiety.

Or perhaps he plays one more year in a low-pressure market like Columbus for the league minimum, then retires.

Kind of an Alex Daigle story: plays hockey because he's good at it, but doesn't really like everything associated with being an NHL player.

I don't believe this. One of his mental struggles was that he was actually thinking about hockey too much. He was barely sleeping because of that. He might be a hockey junkie.

I thought he'd want to retire for his own good as well but he said he desired to come back, so who knows.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

32 million+ career earnings not bad for the kid,

 

[HockeyWooot]

PTO with a couple more teams then over to Europe.

 

[Avsfan1921]

Tampa. You people have no idea how great Nikita Kucherov made this young man look

You people? YOU PEOPLE!!!!?!??!??

Sir/madam/non binary, you have crossed a line… this is the internet and we will not allow you to use such foul language!

Anyways, he’s combing to the Avs for cheap where Mackinnon will (hopefully) make him look good.

 

[Naslundforever]

That actually is bad production from a player that gets soft minutes, lots of PP time, and is a defensive black hole. He barely outproduced Dvorak in 6 more games and got outproduced by Anderson who sucks on the PP.

Pezzetta, Richard, and Condotta sure but those guys are AHLers or borderline AHLers. He is absolutely not a better NHLer than the other players listed other than maybe Armia who seems completely cooked now. You have to understand that because he is so bad defensively and brings NOTHING to the table other than scoring, he needs to be scoring a lot more than defensively responsible players to make up for those shortcomings.

No. He's been doing his thing on the 2nd or 1st line with top 6 forwards his whole tenure as a Hab and has jack shit to show for it. Why should he get those minutes ahead of Harvey-Pinard, Slafkovsky, Farrell, Heineman, Pitlick, etc. or a good veteran we could sign/trade for instead of a guy that's proven over 6 seasons that he doesn't have it?

Msl (talking about I believe Gurianov) said if you don’t have a 200ft game you better be scoring 50. 2 goals for a 100ft game does not add up indeed.

 

[VanP]

I would like to see Ottawa offer him a contract. Under Giroux's tutelage he might find soem success

No he won’t