DUDES!
I don't know where you got the impression I was crediting Cooper for developing Kucherov. I've made posts on the TB board pointing out the very opposite, lampooning notions that he's anything but the same player who drove the bus for Nate Thompson and J.T. Brown to many unconverted opportunities last season.
Also, the only reason Kucherov's spot on the team was speculated about heading into and throughout training camp because of contract-, not performance-related, reasons. If he hadn't been waivers-exempt, his place on the club would have been a foregone conclusion. And that whole situation, which concluded with wasting an asset (Richard Panik), was created by the organization deciding it needed to give a last hurrah to Brenden Morrow. Not Yzerman and Co.'s finest moment.
At any rate, the real insight is that Kucherov and Drouin saw similar treatment as rookies in their first professional season. I believe that's all it really boils down to. Feel free to disagree.
As for next season, keep in mind that Drouin has a high-profile agent in Allan Walsh who's not averse to speaking his (or, by proxy, a client's) mind. This isn't a second rounder catching you by surprise with his accelerated emergence whom you've got to figure out how to utilize. Also, there shouldn't be a similar logjam to put Drouin on the bubble and possibly necessitate his being placed with SYR.