Hope is is on the main roster for the 21st. Would love to see him in person.
That is awesome to hear. We really cannot go wrong with either option. AHL for conditioning and rehab assignment or with big club going through practices and joining the team on the road. Would rather he stay up for sure...either way can't wait for Drouin to replace Killorn in the: Killorn/Filp/Callahan line.
I imagine:
Palat/Stammer/Johnson
Drouin/Filp/Callahan
Kucherov/Namestnikov/Connolly or Panik
Killorn or Morrow / Boyle / Panik or Brown
That is really an excellent lineup from top to bottom. Would sit Morrow and Panik on most nights as healthy scratches.
But while Drouin, 19, has progressed in recent days in what he could do in practice, he won't play Thursday.
"It's no point in rushing," Drouin said. "Maybe I can play, but it's not Game 7 of the playoffs or something. It's disappointing, but you've got to look at the big picture."
"If we truly needed him this second, he could answer the bell," Cooper said. "But we want to make sure he's NHL ready, there's no lingering effects of anything on him. And as you can see, he's whipping around, he's getting his stickhandling and all that. But the onus is on us to give him the best chance to succeed.
The thumb is getting better every day, he says, but he hasn't fully tested it with his best shot.
The Lightning is still weighing the pros and cons of whether to have Drouin do a short conditioning assignment with AHL Syracuse, or get ready by practicing with the team. Drouin is shooting to play in one of the four games in this opening homestand.
"He just needs to get his conditioning up to NHL standards," assistant general manager Julien BriseBois said. "It's a big step, going not just from junior to the NHL preseason to NHL, he's going from juniors to NHL, so we want to make sure we put him in the best situation to have succes from the get-go. So we're being patient."
Curious to see if he goes tonight. I'd almost rather him not with Neil in the lineup.
Curious to see if he goes tonight. I'd almost rather him not with Neil in the lineup.
Curious to see if he goes tonight. I'd almost rather him not with Neil in the lineup.
What would be the team he starts against then? 90% of the team have some goofball in the lineup to give opposing stars some rough love.
It's like that for every potential 'superstar', they just gotta endure it, or have somebody like Gudas or Tie Domi in their shadow.
Seems he was out with the scratched guys today. But I would say Monday would be the best bet.
I just hope it's Morrow who comes out and Drouin goes in. That's the optimal lineup IMO.
I thought Morrow was surprisingly good on Thursday. If Connolly doesn't do anything tonight, I'd rather scratch him. Similar role to Drouin's, where Morrow's is vastly different.
I wouldn't shed a tear if it was Connolly but I think if he is EVER gonna become anything close to what he should, Connolly needs to just be force fed minutes and playing time.
Cooper said the team will know more Mon. or Tues. about when Jonathan Drouin will be ready to play. #TBLightning
Yeah but Neil is a special kind of stupid.
I hope its Monday or Tuesday. I really want to see his first game as a bolt in person.
Touted wing prospect Jonathan Drouin skated again in practice, but was not part of line rushes and won't play tonight. But Cooper said Drouin is "really close" to making his NHL debut; Drouin, coming back from a fractured right thumb, has a final check-up/exam tonight or early tomorrow. Best guess is Drouin makes his NHL debut Saturday in Vancouver. "He's not quite ready," Cooper said. "I've said this in the past, we're going to play him when he's most ready to play. And hes' really close. Now we're getting down to the day-to-day."
"When they feel I'm ready and I'm feel I'm ready, and there's no more pain at all, then we're going to jump in," Drouin said.
Drouin spent extra time after today's optional morning skate working on faceoffs for the first time since the injury. He said he'll start getting involved in contact drills soon. Drouin said he's still experiencing some pain, and still wears a brace.
"Its feeling closer and closer to be honest," Drouin said. "It's a day to day thing, when we feel like we're going to be ready, and I'm ready to jump in, we're going to go."