Player Discussion Jonathan Drouin: "In an ideal world he's a winger," Edition.

[Mrb1p]

Don't be too hard on JD. He was traded to a bad team who got half his D changed for lesser D.
We ask him to play center while he's more a winger. Can't blame him if Bergevin never got a legit center in 5 years and the same in Gainey-Gauthier era.

It's only 21 games and he's only 22 y. If eventually MB can make a trade to get a true #1 center we will see a very different Drouin.

We can judge him by the production and the way he plays. Hes bad on the ice ATM. Worse than Galchenyuk at center.

 

[Deluded Puck]

Drouin reminds Tanguay, a good player with good skills, but he won't lead your team, he's not the guy. To succeed, Drouin needs to play wing with a good centermen.

This is a FANTASTIC comparison.

 

[Leon Lucius Black]

Drouin and Galchenyuk were developing good chemistry up until Pacioretty went on that line, ever since Drouin has looked bad the last few games.

Throw a guy like Gallagher or Byron with Chucky/Drouin, a guy who will work for the puck unlike Pacioretty and Drouin will start to look better.

 

[Habs Icing]

Completely incomprehensible that he doesn't have the makings of a NHL centre.

No one could have predicted this, nope.

What's even sadder than Drouin being a center is Drouin being a game breaker. My biggest gripe about the trade was we traded a blue chip stud for a centerman who would be a project. Watching Drouin play I honestly don't have much hope of him being a stud winger. My instincts tell me he'll be an okay winger with occasional flashes of brilliance.

 

[Belial]

Drouin on his play so far:

 

[tazsub3]

he is a competitor, i think he is badly injured and playing through it, also he had the slacker on his line. until today. i think JD will look much better without max dragging down the line

 

[kgboomer]

C is too much responsibilities for him under Julien. He's trying hard but Julien wants his C to be 2-way. Hate to write this, but he would have probably been more productive under the neanderthal. Probably Therrien would have used him as a purely offensive C like he did with lil DD.

 

[Belial]

C is too much responsibilities for him under Julien. He's trying hard but Julien wants his C to be 2-way. Hate to write this, but he would have probably been more productive under the neanderthal. Probably Therrien would have used him as a purely offensive C like he did with lil DD.

How about he'll learn and get better?

 

[kgboomer]

How about he'll learn and get better?

You mean like your Bergebin and Therrien cheri should have done with Galchenyuk in his second season?

 

[Belial]

You mean like your Bergebin and Therrien cheri should have done with Galchenyuk in his second season?

Again, how many times can I stress this? Chucky played ~150 games at center! And he was still struggling!

 

[teamfirst]

You mean like your Bergebin and Therrien cheri should have done with Galchenyuk in his second season?

poor little Chucky, he had talent but .......c'mon now, maybe he's not as good as we tought, good hockey players fight over adversity

sometimes you have to take responsability for your problems, it's often the only way to solves them, of course if his entourage told him all the time that his problems was cause by his usage from the coaching staff than he will be less incline to listen to them

wasnt that the reason Larionov gives when he decided to stop representing him few years ago

 

[groovejuice]

Drouin and Galchenyuk were developing good chemistry up until Pacioretty went on that line, ever since Drouin has looked bad the last few games.

Throw a guy like Gallagher or Byron with Chucky/Drouin, a guy who will work for the puck unlike Pacioretty and Drouin will start to look better.

Pacioretty and Galchenyuk had a good run together, so it's not like he's never been able to be successful with players who play a different game than him.

Not sure exactly what his issue is, but his shot isn't the killer weapon it was not too long ago. He's also usually much less implicated in the play, especially physical contact, and his passing has run away and left no forwarding address.

I hope he gets his game back. Maybe he should dump the kale and tofu for a while and gorge on steak tartar, bacon butter tarts, and artisan beer.

Works for me.

 

[Kriss E]

We can judge him by the production and the way he plays. Hes bad on the ice ATM. Worse than Galchenyuk at center.

I will never get over this.
Have an organizational need to find a center. It's been over a decade without a legit center. Draft a big skilled center at 3rd overall, yasss!! We use him on the wing despite this need...
Trade for a skilled winger....use him at center...
What the f*** is wrong with these f***ing idiots? Are they doing this on purpose?

 

[tazsub3]

I will never get over this.
Have an organizational need to find a center. It's been over a decade without a legit center. Draft a big skilled center at 3rd overall, yasss!! We use him on the wing despite this need...
Trade for a skilled winger....use him at center...
What the **** is wrong with these ****ing idiots? Are they doing this on purpose?

Somewhere around this earth, the grouping of neanderthals are revolting and thinking that the HAbs managemnt are giving them a poor image.

 

[JLP]

We can judge him by the production and the way he plays. Hes bad on the ice ATM. Worse than Galchenyuk at center.

Come on, he's better than Galchenyuk at French and that's what really matters in Montreal

Seems the idea is given time eventually Drouin will learn how to be a C and eventually Bergevin will learn how to be a GM.

 

[Roke]

I find it interesting that the Drouin-boosting narrative when he was acquired was:

"He'll be more than the 50-55 point in Montreal because he'll get more opportunities he wasn't getting in Tampa"

but now it's:

"Tampa's a lot better than Montreal so of course Drouin isn't putting up big numbers, the supporting cast isn't strong enough."

 

[McGuires Corndog]

I find it interesting that the Drouin-boosting narrative when he was acquired was:

"He'll be more than the 50-55 point in Montreal because he'll get more opportunities he wasn't getting in Tampa"

but now it's:

"Tampa's a lot better than Montreal so of course Drouin isn't putting up big numbers, the supporting cast isn't strong enough."

That's the #1 perk of a being a Bergevin supporter, the ability to constantly shift goal posts to meet your narrative.

 

[habsgirl5000]

Watching Drouin play I honestly don't have much hope of him being a stud winger. My instincts tell me he'll be an okay winger with occasional flashes of brilliance.

we already have lots of wingers who fit that description, chucky leads that list, there was no need to pickup another one

 

[RealityBytes]

Drouin wasn't even on Tampa's trading block this summer, reports in the summer said him and Cooper had finally repaired things, Stamkos called him a core player on the team - I wouldn't be surprised if MB looked at Tampa's cap situation, tried beat the curve and offered Serg for Drouin thinking Tampa would've had to move on from one of their 3 RFA's. Yzerman wasn't shopping Drouin, MB came up to him and offered Serg for Drouin which just looks dumb.

Looking back on post trade quotes I'm leaning more towards this assumption.

Keep in mind that the main reason Yzerman traded Drouin was because he couldn't protect all three of Johnson, Palat, and Drouin from the Vegas draft and was sure to lose one for nothing. He had to move one of the three hopefully to get a player back that was draft exempt. He was shopping Drouin.

 

[Mrb1p]

Mike Bossy and Yvon Pednault still saying Drouin needs to be at wing.

Bossy also ripped Pac.

 

[Habs Icing]

we already have lots of wingers who fit that description, chucky leads that list, there was no need to pickup another one

You're preaching to the choir, girlfriend.

 

[Habs Icing]

I will never get over this.
Have an organizational need to find a center. It's been over a decade without a legit center. Draft a big skilled center at 3rd overall, yasss!! We use him on the wing despite this need...
Trade for a skilled winger....use him at center...
What the **** is wrong with these ****ing idiots? Are they doing this on purpose?

To answer your last question first, yes they are obviously doing it on purpose. They drafted Chucky and then played him at wing. It wasn't an accident that they drafted him and it wasn't an accident that he ended up on the wing. It wasn't an accident that they traded Sergachev for Drouin and he ended up at center. On trade day they said they saw him as a center. No accident there either. All on purpose. So you can rest easy on that point.

Now for your first question. I hope you realize you have the answer in your question itself and I'll point to two words that demonstrates my point: wrong & idiots. What is wrong? Well, the answer is we're dealing with idiots. Or actually with a GM that is too clever by half. Definition of the phrase too clever (smart) by half: Shrewd but flawed by overthinking or excessive complexity, with a resulting tendency to be unreliable or unsuccessful, a seemingly clever action that is in fact foolish.

There I solved your problem. Now you can get over it.

 

[Saint Patrick]

I will never get over this.
Have an organizational need to find a center. It's been over a decade without a legit center. Draft a big skilled center at 3rd overall, yasss!! We use him on the wing despite this need...
Trade for a skilled winger....use him at center...
What the **** is wrong with these ****ing idiots? Are they doing this on purpose?

Word for word what I was thinking. It blows my mind. Add to the fact that this 3rd rounder we picked actually did well at center, not perfect but I’m positive that had he stayed there he would have been better.

This organization goes out and grabs a winger and plants him at c, it doesn’t work, but no let’s keep him there to save face. Watch them try Mete at C next year. Bunch of clowns

 

[habergeon]

I want Bergevin as gone as the next guy, but Sergachev for Drouin was a good trade at the time and is still is a good trade today.

The mistake is thinking he was a #1 Centre, or even a centre to begin with.

Anyone who watched, coached or scouted him in junior, Team Canada, the AHL and Tampa would tell you that.

 

[Deluded Puck]

Wait. I just realised Drouin has only 3 points more that Galchenyuk even though one been Desharnais’d and the other got sent to the 4th line.

The internal agendas and politics at the club...