Player Discussion Jonathan Drouin

[Vachon23]

How do you view Drouin? To me, it's clear this guy will never be the go-to guy on a winning team. He's a high-quality complementary player, but we have TONS of those already. As for a partner for Weber, there's nothing in the system for another couple of years.

In an ideal world some options would be available on the UFA market, but there's not. Leddy and Brodin are still rather young, CLEARLY top-4, LHD Ds, and both play a style that would complement Weber well, in a world where quality LHDs are less and less common.

I'd trade Drouin for either one of them in the blink of an eye. I guess my appreciation of Drouin is less than yours.

I don’t think your opinion is wrong. I agree with alote of point here especially that we need a LD and that Leddy and Brodin are 2 excellent options. And you’re probably right that the Islanders will ask Drouin for Leddy but for me Drouin can be a solide top 6 winger who can put 60-70 pts. I would trade the 15oa before Drouin. I still have trust in him

 

[Rapala]

I would love to see Drouin traded but I doubt that it happens, I honestly don't think that there would be much interest in his services unless of course it is a situation where we add something or take on a bad contract to help us get rid of him.

I'm not sure how much value can be attributed to this type of player. He's played with a stacked team and couldn't cut it there (attitude). He comes to Montreal is given a leading role but hasn't proved much of anything in what is now two full seasons. The irony can't be lost on people who bought in to MB's preaching. I think it's safe to say attitude is still a huge problem with this player. He needs to put up or shut up this year. I'm not looking forward to another season of excuses.

 

[Habs Icing]

I voted no but I think he should be.

 

[Vachon23]

I'm not sure how much value can be attributed to this type of player. He's played with a stacked team and couldn't cut it there (attitude). He comes to Montreal is given a leading role but hasn't proved much of anything in what is now two full seasons. The irony can't be lost on people who bought in to MB's preaching. I think it's safe to say attitude is still a huge problem with this player. He needs to put up or shut up this year. I'm not looking forward to another season of excuses.

Yaa it’s probably his last chance next year to prove that he can be an impact player

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

Yaa it’s probably his last chance next year to prove that he can be an impact player

And if he fails, what happens? We sell even lower on him? Seen that too many times before.

I genuinely think it would be a wise move to pass go and claim 200$ now.

 

[Vachon23]

And if he fails, what happens? We sell even lower on him? Seen that too many times before.

I genuinely think it would be a wise move to pass go and claim 200$ now.

But if he explosed you look fool

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

But if he explosed you look fool

I wouldn't hold my breath, but to each his own faith. I can understand why some are scared to move him. I personally have seen this scenario unfold too many times before.

 

[Toene]

I see a lot of people criticizing his play and I have no problem with this. He shit the bed second half. It's the character assassination that bothers me. From all reports, the guy is a hockey nerd who practices hard and cares a lot. His teammates seem to respect him and vice versa. There are other factors as to why a player doesnt perform. It can be confidence, it can be personal life, it can be a nagging injury, etc.

The laziest thing in all this is not Drouin, it's the "enigmatic Frenchie offensive dynamo with no heart" cliche thats paraded around here. I'm not a huge Drouin fan but I see him skate hard in game. I saw him play great in the playoffs with TB. He's got what it takes...

First half of the year he was everything we needed him to be. Try him back with Domi for a while before throwing the towel imo. If he can be a 55-65 points player, which he was easily on pace to first half, hes well worth his deal and one of our best weapon upfront.

 

[Captain Mountain]

I see a lot of people criticizing his play and I have no problem with this. He **** the bed second half. It's the character assassination that bothers me. From all reports, the guy is a hockey nerd who practices hard and cares a lot. His teammates seem to respect him and vice versa. There are other factors as to why a player doesnt perform. It can be confidence, it can be personal life, it can be a nagging injury, etc.

The laziest thing in all this is not Drouin, it's the "enigmatic Frenchie offensive dynamo with no heart" cliche thats paraded around here. I'm not a huge Drouin fan but I see him skate hard in game. I saw him play great in the playoffs with TB. He's got what it takes...

First half of the year he was everything we needed him to be. Try him back with Domi for a while before throwing the towel imo. If he can be a 55-65 points player, which he was easily on pace to first half, hes well worth his deal and one of our best weapon upfront.

I'm far from a Drouin fan, and I disagree that he skates hard (he plays way to passively most of the time).

I agree with the character assassination stuff though. By all accounts Drouin is a good teammate and a hockey nerd. It looks more like he's just never been able to adjust to the pace of the NHL. He hasn't been able to evolve as competition got tougher. Not sure there's a answer for that.

The most annoying thing on this board though is that people always want to attack the character and integrity of guys that don't meet their expectations (whether realistic or unrealistic). Drouin is far from the first and wont be the last. Well, that and the terrible mean nicknames that only an elementary school kid would consider clever (Bargain-Bin, Max Patioready, etc.).

 

[sharknado]

But if he explosed you look fool

He is the same lazy 200' player since Midget AAA

He has the big contract while being that lazy player so he isn't going to change
Besides, Tampa is not looking like a fool so far

 

[Kent Nilsson]

I see a lot of people criticizing his play and I have no problem with this. He **** the bed second half. It's the character assassination that bothers me. From all reports, the guy is a hockey nerd who practices hard and cares a lot. His teammates seem to respect him and vice versa. There are other factors as to why a player doesnt perform. It can be confidence, it can be personal life, it can be a nagging injury, etc.

The laziest thing in all this is not Drouin, it's the "enigmatic Frenchie offensive dynamo with no heart" cliche thats paraded around here. I'm not a huge Drouin fan but I see him skate hard in game. I saw him play great in the playoffs with TB. He's got what it takes...

First half of the year he was everything we needed him to be. Try him back with Domi for a while before throwing the towel imo. If he can be a 55-65 points player, which he was easily on pace to first half, hes well worth his deal and one of our best weapon upfront.

lol @ “from all reports”. “His teammates seem to respect him”. Bahaha. How about you watch whats going on the ice ? Drouin is a selfish puck hog who half-ass backchecks and avoids contact at all costs. He’s a coach’s nightmare, stays out of the perimeter, always tries to deke in the neutral zone, his hockey IQ is very low. Hes overrated because hes a good skater and had a nice junior career. Yzerman got rid of him the minute he had a good offer after he held out because he thought the AHL wasnt good enough for him. Entitled brat. I bet he gets all the PP time because MB pressures Julien to do so.

He’s the antithesis of the “no excuses, attitude, character” thing MB has been preaching since he got here. But MB is an idiot so actually Drouin is a perfect player for him.

 

[Runner77]

The laziest thing in all this is not Drouin, it's the "enigmatic Frenchie offensive dynamo with no heart" cliche thats paraded around here.

I really think that label is offensive and should not be used in the manner you suggest even if an admin on this site has chosen it as his user name.

There is no such thing as an "enigmatic Frenchie". It's quite the opposite, most local players who become Habs, will give an extra effort and are generally enthusiastic to play for the team they grew up being a fan of.

Drouin is not a standard bearer for a race, ethnicity or language. He's just a complementary player whose profile is ill-suited to the team as constituted and who in 5 years in the league, has shown a disturbing pattern of play and behavior that has unfortunately not been overcome in his two years as a Hab. He may be on the same path as Galchenyuk except that he will have worn out his welcome a lot sooner.

 

[Toene]

I really think that label is offensive and should not be used in the manner you suggest even if an admin on this site has chosen it as his user name.

There is no such thing as an "enigmatic Frenchie". It's quite the opposite, most local players who become Habs, will give an extra effort and are generally enthusiastic to play for the team they grew up being a fan of.

Drouin is not a standard bearer for a race, ethnicity or language. He's just a complementary player whose profile is ill-suited to the team as constituted and who in 5 years in the league, has shown a disturbing pattern of play and behavior that has unfortunately not been overcome in his two years as a Hab. He may be on the same path as Galchenyuk except that he will have worn out his welcome a lot sooner.

I dont suggest anyone directly said it. Its was the Laflamme memes that made me refer to that, I mean the implication here is not a coincidence and it was written here, black on white. I wasnt complaining at all about this label btw, and no offense was intended in my post towards any specific poster.
Im a big homer for French players on the Habs but Im not blind. Drouin has issues, but my point was about his performance : it's certainly not because of a lack of will. Trade him, keep him, waive him, I dont mind but he's a good kid and a passionate athlete.

Not saying you in particular didnt keep the discussion on a strict hockey pov but some other people go really hard on him and some things that were said were a bit over the top and on some occasions pretty rude, wouldnt you agree?

 

[Belial]

I would love to see Drouin traded but I doubt that it happens, I honestly don't think that there would be much interest in his services unless of course it is a situation where we add something or take on a bad contract to help us get rid of him.

So in your opinion, he has negative value after a 53 points season at 24 years old!? Come on, dude! Jesus...

 

[Toene]

lol @ “from all reports”. “His teammates seem to respect him”. Bahaha. How about you watch whats going on the ice ? Drouin is a selfish puck hog who half-ass backchecks and avoids contact at all costs. He’s a coach’s nightmare, stays out of the perimeter, always tries to deke in the neutral zone, his hockey IQ is very low. Hes overrated because hes a good skater and had a nice junior career. Yzerman got rid of him the minute he had a good offer after he held out because he thought the AHL wasnt good enough for him. Entitled brat. I bet he gets all the PP time because MB pressures Julien to do so.

He’s the antithesis of the “no excuses, attitude, character” thing MB has been preaching since he got here. But MB is an idiot so actually Drouin is a perfect player for him.

We'll have to agree to disagree because imo your analysis is terrible. Drouin's lack of results this year wasnt due to effort, at all. It was due to low IQ, low-percentage plays. Passes that lead no where, trying to do to much. Relying on his stick-handling in ill-timed moments.

He did skate hard this year. But it doesnt matter how hard you skate if you dont put this effort towards making the right play in a given situation. So many times he couldve made the simple play like dumping it and instead he tried the cute move. It's definitely an IQ question.

The rest of your post is pure drivel that tells me you watch more of the GDTs than the games. Im not even suggesting his two-way play was in any shape or form acceptable. But the absurdity is in thinking it was because he he didnt try. It was evident the problem was that what he was trying failed endlessly.
I think we agree on the lack of results but the analysis doesnt match what was going on on the ice. Dude was brilliant in junior but is NHL-dumb, if you will. He doesnt play smartly. Is it a lack of confidence, is it arrogance? Any tentative of an answer brings us to pure speculation territory.

And yes : from all reports, he is appreciated by his peers, "bahahaha" all you want. It's more tangible than your made-up narrative, thats for sure.

 

[Runner77]

I dont suggest anyone directly said it. Its was the Laflamme memes that made me refer to that, I mean the implication here is not a coincidence and it was written here, black on white. I wasnt complaining at all about this label btw, and no offense was intended in my post towards any specific poster.
Im a big homer for French players on the Habs but Im not blind. Drouin has issues, but my point was about his performance : it's certainly not because of a lack of will. Trade him, keep him, waive him, I dont mind but he's a good kid and a passionate athlete.

Not saying you in particular didnt keep the discussion on a strict hockey pov but some other people go really hard on him and some things that were said were a bit over the top and on some occasions pretty rude, wouldnt you agree?

I don't think he's a bad person. He does a lot of charity work, which I always appreciate about NHL players in general.

It's not and shouldn't be personal but fans sometimes mix up the two and it can go overboards when it becomes mean just to be mean. I don't mind good natured spoofs for comedic purposes but draw the line at ethnic, racial, language and similar references.

As far as what's holding him back, we can all speculate. Just looking at the facts:

• He does disappear during too many games.
• He does tend to play the perimeter.
• He does fall into the trap of pond hockey moves that result in turnovers.
• He has produced a large share of costly turnovers.
• He lacks defensive awareness.
• He seems to have a low hockey IQ.
• His game doesn't seem to have evolved despite having been in the league 5 years.
• He did claim that he was being held back by playing center in his first year as a Hab as if we'd be seeing a totally transformed player in year 2.
• He saw his time and role reduced by Julien in the last 15-20 games. He just kept sinking, which was disturbing.

Is there nothing he can do to significantly improve or change how he plays? After 5 years in the league, I have my doubts.

 

[Habs Icing]

We'll have to agree to disagree because imo your analysis is terrible. Drouin's lack of results this year wasnt due to effort, at all. It was due to low IQ, low-percentage plays. Passes that lead no where, trying to do to much. Relying on his stick-handling in ill-timed moments.

He did skate hard this year. But it doesnt matter how hard you skate if you dont put this effort towards making the right play in a given situation. So many times he couldve made the simple play like dumping it and instead he tried the cute move. It's definitely an IQ question.

The rest of your post is pure drivel that tells me you watch more of the GDTs than the games. Im not even suggesting his two-way play was in any shape or form acceptable. But the absurdity is in thinking it was because he he didnt try. It was evident the problem was that what he was trying failed endlessly.
I think we agree on the lack of results but the analysis doesnt match what was going on on the ice. Dude was brilliant in junior but is NHL-dumb, if you will. He doesnt play smartly. Is it a lack of confidence, is it arrogance? Any tentative of an answer brings us to pure speculation territory.

And yes : from all reports, he is appreciated by his peers, "bahahaha" all you want. It's more tangible than your made-up narrative, thats for sure.

If you're correct and Drouin's lacklustre play is due to low hockey IQ then we should trade him ASAP. That IQ will never improve.

 

[Toene]

If you're correct and Drouin's lacklustre play is due to low hockey IQ then we should trade him ASAP. That IQ will never improve.

Well, I wouldnt say so. Some players learn with age. A lot of primary-offensive players develop their overall game and make a good second half of their career as two-way players. And to say he doesnt have IQ to play in this league well... He did have it at the start of the year. He did have it with TB in his few stints, notably "that" playoffs season. So he's not necessarily a lost cause, but he needs to adapt his game ASAP because time is indeed running out, he's far from a rookie.

 

[scrubadam]

Trade him for an LD or a top 10 pick. If not keep him.

If habs can sign maybe a Skinner, Drouin on the 3rd line with KK and Byron would be a nice luxury to have.

 

[CHwest]

I see a lot of people criticizing his play and I have no problem with this. He **** the bed second half. It's the character assassination that bothers me. From all reports, the guy is a hockey nerd who practices hard and cares a lot. His teammates seem to respect him and vice versa. There are other factors as to why a player doesnt perform. It can be confidence, it can be personal life, it can be a nagging injury, etc.

The laziest thing in all this is not Drouin, it's the "enigmatic Frenchie offensive dynamo with no heart" cliche thats paraded around here. I'm not a huge Drouin fan but I see him skate hard in game. I saw him play great in the playoffs with TB. He's got what it takes...

First half of the year he was everything we needed him to be. Try him back with Domi for a while before throwing the towel imo. If he can be a 55-65 points player, which he was easily on pace to first half, hes well worth his deal and one of our best weapon upfront.

Hmmm... all I saw was disinterest and unwillingness to pay the price. Maybe you have been watching a non playoff team too long and are confused as to what effort and sacrifice looks like?

 

[Kotkaniemi15]

This year is the last chance for JD until he's officially reached his ceiling as a 55-60 point guy

 

[OldCraig71]

So in your opinion, he has negative value after a 53 points season at 24 years old!? Come on, dude! Jesus...

Wow, Belial. Rumors of your death have been greatly exaggerated. His salary, his style of play, his nonexistent defensive game/play without the puck would not get us what you think it would in a trade. We could get a similarly aged reclamation project in return I guess.

 

[OldCraig71]

We'll have to agree to disagree because imo your analysis is terrible. Drouin's lack of results this year wasnt due to effort, at all. It was due to low IQ, low-percentage plays. Passes that lead no where, trying to do to much. Relying on his stick-handling in ill-timed moments.

He did skate hard this year. But it doesnt matter how hard you skate if you dont put this effort towards making the right play in a given situation. So many times he couldve made the simple play like dumping it and instead he tried the cute move. It's definitely an IQ question.

The rest of your post is pure drivel that tells me you watch more of the GDTs than the games. Im not even suggesting his two-way play was in any shape or form acceptable. But the absurdity is in thinking it was because he he didnt try. It was evident the problem was that what he was trying failed endlessly.
I think we agree on the lack of results but the analysis doesnt match what was going on on the ice. Dude was brilliant in junior but is NHL-dumb, if you will. He doesnt play smartly. Is it a lack of confidence, is it arrogance? Any tentative of an answer brings us to pure speculation territory.

And yes : from all reports, he is appreciated by his peers, "bahahaha" all you want. It's more tangible than your made-up narrative, thats for sure.

Drouin has what many players lack and that is a natural talent and there is nothing more frustrating than watching a professional athlete that is gifted with so much and then simply waste it because he refuses to work. Do you think that people like me don't want to see him get 80 points because it would prove me wrong? If he does get 80 points it will only be because he decided to wake up and not continue coasting to 50 points! He is capable of more and he flat out let us down when we needed him most and only because he refused to work and you know this already if you watch him play. The game against the Jets was an example of what he can be but it doesn't happen nearly enough and I don't think that it is unrealistic to have expectations for our highest paid forward.

 

[MSLs absurd thighs]

lol @ “from all reports”. “His teammates seem to respect him”. Bahaha. How about you watch whats going on the ice ? Drouin is a selfish puck hog who half-ass backchecks and avoids contact at all costs. He’s a coach’s nightmare, stays out of the perimeter, always tries to deke in the neutral zone, his hockey IQ is very low. Hes overrated because hes a good skater and had a nice junior career. Yzerman got rid of him the minute he had a good offer after he held out because he thought the AHL wasnt good enough for him. Entitled brat. I bet he gets all the PP time because MB pressures Julien to do so.

He’s the antithesis of the “no excuses, attitude, character” thing MB has been preaching since he got here. But MB is an idiot so actually Drouin is a perfect player for him.

This is the kind of post that brings absolutely nothing to the table. You'd believe he is the clone of Mike Ribeiro mixed with the genes of Hitler reading posts like this.

I just think he's not a core player. And thus, a piece we can afford to move to improve in an area of need, such as LD. To suggest his value is nonexistant is a bit ridiculous. It will decrease quite a bit though if he doesn't have a good season next year. Which is a risk I'm not willing to take.

 

[Kent Nilsson]

This is the kind of post that brings absolutely nothing to the table. You'd believe he is the clone of Mike Ribeiro mixed with the genes of Hitler reading posts like this.

I just think he's not a core player. And thus, a piece we can afford to move to improve in an area of need, such as LD. To suggest his value is nonexistant is a bit ridiculous. It will decrease quite a bit though if he doesn't have a good season next year. Which is a risk I'm not willing to take.

lmao, literally you say I bring nothing to the table with an Hitler analogy in the same post. Cant make this up.