Player Discussion Jonathan Drouin - So comman Edition

[Tyson]

Drouin finished the season on a high note. He was a lot more comfortable playing center. His face-off numbers were good, as well. In his last 20 games, he was over 50% on the face-off dot 10 times. And out of those 10, he was over 60% 7 times, and over 70% once. And he didn't take 3 or 4 face-offs in those games to have a better percentage. There were games he had taken less, but in most, he took a lot.

Production-wise, in those last 20 games, he had 16 pts (4G, 12A).

In an 82-game season, that's a pace of 66 pts. He played 77 games last season, so if he had that pace he had at the end all season, he would have 62 pts.

If Drouin can start from where he ended last year, he will be much better and have the numbers to back it up.

It’s much easier to produce when there is no pressure like a playoff push. I hope Drouin becomes the great player he has the potential to become but I have serious doubts

 

[Tyson]

Honestly? I hope Drouin the best but I think he needs to take his head out of his ass. I have witnessed what this kid can do when fired up and, for a lack of a better phrase, PISSED! He has the ability to take control of an NHL game at any time. How can I say this? We have seen it! He’s not an enigma or lazy! He just needs some wisdom.

Competing hard every shift would be a nice start

 

[cphabs]

Competing hard every shift would be a nice start

Agreed! The kid can wreck shop if he wants to. He needs to figure out why he wants to wreck shop. That is the “trick” I guess.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Domi-Drouin-Gallagher... I could see it ruining our tank lol

 

[cphabs]

Domi-Drouin-Gallagher... I could see it ruining our tank lol

I don’t see that line lasting more than 3 months due to physical attrition.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

I don’t see that line lasting more than 3 months due to physical attrition.

It aint the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog! (well in at least 2 of them)

 

[justafan22]

It aint the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog! (well in at least 2 of them)

Drouin is a winger though which makes a difference

 

[Talks to Goalposts]

Domi-Drouin-Gallagher... I could see it ruining our tank lol

I find it very unlikely that this line is sufficently effective that it carries a team out of the basement. At best its a decent line, but many bad teams have awesome lines carried by superstar talent (See Stamkos and McDavid for recent examples). I also very much doubt any line centered by Drouin will be any good, he was worse than Plekanec last year at running ES strength offense from the center position.

 

[admiralcadillac]

Competing hard every shift would be a nice start

Classic Galchenundrum

 

[LaP]

I don’t see that line lasting more than 3 months due to physical attrition.

3 months is still enough to ruin a tank. I clearly remember the Houle era where many of our tanks where ruined by this type of lines. Lines we all knew would not work in the long run but lines that over a short period of time were able to ruin our tank. Don't have to make the playoffs for a tank to be ruined.

This lineup worries me a lot. I see a couple of mid 20ies grinders who have the chance of their life to prove something. Guys who don't really have the skills to be difference maker in the long run. You can be sure guys like Peca, Armia and Byron will give everything they have at the beginning of the season when other teams are still sleeping on the job. They all need to resign in the next 2 years and they are grinders that have to prove something to get the jackpot. They'll work hard until they run out of gaz.

I would prefer to lose with Scherbak but i don't think it will happen MB will get rid of him he's not playing the right way. Let's hope Tank Commander Price will be ready at the beginning of the season. The first 10 games are crucial. If Price is sadly at 100% and we win 6+ of those games then this is a team of grinders and it will grind its way outside of the bottom 10 and sadly also outside of the playoffs.

 

[cphabs]

3 months is still enough to ruin a tank. I clearly remember the Houle era where many of our tanks where ruined by this type of lines. Lines we all knew would not work in the long run but lines that over a short period of time were able to ruin our tank. Don't have to make the playoffs for a tank to be ruined.

This lineup worries me a lot. I see a couple of mid 20ies grinders who have the chance of their life to prove something. Guys who don't really have the skills to be difference maker in the long run. You can be sure guys like Peca, Armia and Byron will give everything they have at the beginning of the season when other teams are still sleeping on the job. They all need to resign in the next 2 years and they are grinders that have to prove something to get the jackpot. They'll work hard until they run out of gaz.

I would prefer to lose with Scherbak but i don't think it will happen MB will get rid of him he's not playing the right way. Let's hope Tank Commander Price will be ready at the beginning of the season. The first 10 games are crucial. If Price is sadly at 100% and we win 6+ of those games then this is a team of grinders and it will grind its way outside of the bottom 10 and sadly also outside of the playoffs.

Even if if works for 3 months? I think we will all be wincing if anyone on that line goes in to the corner for a puck... I can hear it now “His head is the same hieght as my elbow”.

 

[Adam Michaels]

It’s much easier to produce when there is no pressure like a playoff push. I hope Drouin becomes the great player he has the potential to become but I have serious doubts

While you're not wrong, the players he was playing against were battling for a playoff spot or a better position in the standings. So he still had to compete and give it his all because the other team wasn't giving him a pass.

It was the same argument people made when Galchenyuk scored 30. And I wasn't one of those people. He still earned his 30 goals during that stretch. As does Drouin at the end of last season.

 

[Kent Nilsson]

Domi-Drouin-Gallagher... I could see it ruining our tank lol

Thats not even a good second line.

 

[BehindTheTimes]

I find it very unlikely that this line is sufficently effective that it carries a team out of the basement. At best its a decent line, but many bad teams have awesome lines carried by superstar talent (See Stamkos and McDavid for recent examples). I also very much doubt any line centered by Drouin will be any good, he was worse than Plekanec last year at running ES strength offense from the center position.

Hard to believe management doesn't understand this, so frustrating.

 

[QuebecPride]

Drouin finished the season on a high note. He was a lot more comfortable playing center. His face-off numbers were good, as well. In his last 20 games, he was over 50% on the face-off dot 10 times. And out of those 10, he was over 60% 7 times, and over 70% once. And he didn't take 3 or 4 face-offs in those games to have a better percentage. There were games he had taken less, but in most, he took a lot.

Production-wise, in those last 20 games, he had 16 pts (4G, 12A).

In an 82-game season, that's a pace of 66 pts. He played 77 games last season, so if he had that pace he had at the end all season, he would have 62 pts.

If Drouin can start from where he ended last year, he will be much better and have the numbers to back it up.

Yup, and I have a lot of confidence in Muller/Julien to teach him how to play the position. Some will point out Seguin as a failure for Julien, but he still helped Bergeron become the best Center in the league.

Where Drouin differs with Seguin is that he is willing to listen and learn how to play defensively. They need to let him loose a lot more offensively though, and he will always be the type of Center that needs wingers that go fight for the puck. With Gallagher doing the dirty work and dishing out to Drouin in open space, the kid will make his magical hands do the work.

He was indeed much better at Center by the end of year, and fared better in the faceoff circle.

 

[CHfan1]

Drouin finished the season on a high note. He was a lot more comfortable playing center. His face-off numbers were good, as well. In his last 20 games, he was over 50% on the face-off dot 10 times. And out of those 10, he was over 60% 7 times, and over 70% once. And he didn't take 3 or 4 face-offs in those games to have a better percentage. There were games he had taken less, but in most, he took a lot.

Production-wise, in those last 20 games, he had 16 pts (4G, 12A).

In an 82-game season, that's a pace of 66 pts. He played 77 games last season, so if he had that pace he had at the end all season, he would have 62 pts.

If Drouin can start from where he ended last year, he will be much better and have the numbers to back it up.

While his stats were good over the last 20, his face-off stats over the last 10 games weren’t very good. Only 3 games where he was 50% or over and only one over 60%. Over his last 10 he was 64/157 for 40.8% at the dot.

 

[Fazkovsky]

Thats not even a good second line.

It is kingergarden sized though

 

[cphabs]

3 months is still enough to ruin a tank. I clearly remember the Houle era where many of our tanks where ruined by this type of lines. Lines we all knew would not work in the long run but lines that over a short period of time were able to ruin our tank. Don't have to make the playoffs for a tank to be ruined.

This lineup worries me a lot. I see a couple of mid 20ies grinders who have the chance of their life to prove something. Guys who don't really have the skills to be difference maker in the long run. You can be sure guys like Peca, Armia and Byron will give everything they have at the beginning of the season when other teams are still sleeping on the job. They all need to resign in the next 2 years and they are grinders that have to prove something to get the jackpot. They'll work hard until they run out of gaz.

I would prefer to lose with Scherbak but i don't think it will happen MB will get rid of him he's not playing the right way. Let's hope Tank Commander Price will be ready at the beginning of the season. The first 10 games are crucial. If Price is sadly at 100% and we win 6+ of those games then this is a team of grinders and it will grind its way outside of the bottom 10 and sadly also outside of the playoffs.

3 months was being generous.

 

[Le Barron de HF]

Yup, and I have a lot of confidence in Muller/Julien to teach him how to play the position. Some will point out Seguin as a failure for Julien, but he still helped Bergeron become the best Center in the league.

Where Drouin differs with Seguin is that he is willing to listen and learn how to play defensively. They need to let him loose a lot more offensively though, and he will always be the type of Center that needs wingers that go fight for the puck. With Gallagher doing the dirty work and dishing out to Drouin in open space, the kid will make his magical hands do the work.

He was indeed much better at Center by the end of year, and fared better in the faceoff circle.

He also helped Krejci too who was obviously no slouch.

 

[Pickles]

Domi-Drouin-Gallagher is the smurf line part deux.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Domi-Drouin-Gallagher is the smurf line part deux.

Small on paper sure, but I think it would work. When lines not only have complementary skills but also an identity that's when they really click.

 

[habsgirl5000]

If MB's comments about poor attitude were directed at JD then i agree with him,

he seems very lackadaisical, lazy, and gives up on a lot of plays,

however, i believe this is one of the reasons why tampa didnt want him anymore, so it should have been expected

 

[417]

Well I guess you can call it mature, or maybe something else.
Drouin is obviously very talented. He can display some serious skills, but the fact he can't do it consistently...what do you call that? We can say the same for Patches. He's undeniably has a lethal shot, but what makes him unable to crack the 45-50 mark to reach the higher echelon? I don't think I'd call it maturity.

Probably because no one else on the team since Pacioretty has scored 30 regularly, has been able to crack to 25-30 goal mark with any consistency?

Other than Pacioretty...only Galchenyuk (once) and Gallagher (once) have ever cracked 25+.

We're talking what? 6-7yrs?

 

[ArtPeur]

If MB's comments about poor attitude were directed at JD then i agree with him,

he seems very lackadaisical, lazy, and gives up on a lot of plays,

however, i believe this is one of the reasons why tampa didnt want him anymore, so it should have been expected

Tampa wanted to get rid of Drouin for a long time but they probably still had hope it would work out someday. If Bergevin was pointing at Drouin specifically when he said the team had poor attitude, then he's dumber than I thought he was. That said, I would be less surprised if his comments were directed to Pacioretty (with recent news) and Price (media has been talking about it all year long). Then you also have Gallagher and Byron that were saying this team had poor attitude

 

[Deluded Puck]

Less offence, more immeasurable intangibles.