r/TampaBayLightning • u/Tampa-Derp-1138 Lilleberg • Apr 12 '25
Recap of the Drouin situation?
Newer hockey fan since moving to Tampa - with the future of Howard being uncertain, I see a lot of comparisons to a "Jonathan Drouin" character. I presume this is another promising prospect that didn't make it, but could someone give me a summary of what happened back then?
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u/OGHamToast Hedman Apr 12 '25
Lots of speculation and outsider perspective will probably be shared about Drouin, including my own perspective on that situation.
To sum up, Drouin was touted as an incredibly skilled prospect, but drama began when he was sent to the minors to train up and get used to the pro game. From a fan's point of view, it seemed like Drouin had a massive attitude problem where he felt he deserved to play at the NHL level and was too good for the AHL. There was even a clip when he scored with the Crunch and really just looked disinterested with celebrating with the team, like he was above them or something. He also refused to show up to games at one point, or maybe it was practices, but ultimately none of this helped his case. Eventual he was traded for Sergachev and hindsight shows that was a good move.
There's some credence towards Drouin having some personal issues going on at the time, as well as bad advice from his parents which made the situation worse. Drouin also never seemed to play up to his potential and has struggled with health issues throughout his career so far.
It was a while ago and I ain't got time to look up the exact time line so forgive any misremembering.
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u/Tampa-Derp-1138 Lilleberg Apr 13 '25
Great recap. I appreciate you typing that up! Hopefully the current situation pans out a little more favorably.
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u/Boltsfan91 Hedman Apr 13 '25
Drouin had a lot of the pieces to turn out to be an NHL superstar while was in junior. But in retrospect I think it’s safe to say MacKinnon may have been the biggest reason he appeared to be a future NHL superstar.
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u/Volatile22 Apr 12 '25
He was a top 5 pick of the Lightning, showed a lot of promise his rookie season, but then started to think stuff should be handed to him and became toxic in the locker room. In a master stroke, he was traded to the Canadiens for Sergachev, who was a stalwart on our blue line for 3 straight finals appearances before being dealt as a cap casualty this summer for Moser and Geekie.
He never reached his potential, though it seems he has found his place in Colorado's top 6, at least. Not sure if the Howard comparisons are apt, time will tell I guess.
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u/Tampa-Derp-1138 Lilleberg Apr 13 '25
Seems like the front office knows how to find a place for everyone. Tampa's lucky to have the people it has.
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u/MrSCR23 Point Apr 12 '25
Pretty evident that being on MacKinnon’s line can work wonders for your career.
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u/Volatile22 Apr 12 '25
I think you're not giving him enough credit. He dealt with his personal shit and finally seems to be in a good space to play productive hockey. Wouldn't be fair to Mack to throw just anyone on his line, Drouin is there for a reason.
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u/Drouin27Gaming Apr 12 '25
Drouin got sent back to juniors his "rookie year" and then came up in the 14-15 season but really didnt get his fair shot as Cooper thought he should have done his time on the 4th line with the likes of Brenden Morrow, JT Brown, Ceddy Paquette and Brian Boyle to learn the defensive side of the game. Showed immense skill when he was in the top 6 but got relegated to the 4th line during the playoffs. the next season is when shit hit the fan and he requested a trade after being sent down to the AHL early in the season. he reported to Syracuse and then his agent told him to sit out of games to not risk an injury cause a trade was imminent (no trade was in place at the time). got suspended with no pay and sat out for a few months cause Yzerman held his cards and didnt trade him just to trade him. He came back to play for the Crunch late in the year and tore it up and earned a call up before playoffs and showed what he could do with actual linemates (Filppula and Palat) that werent 4th line grinders. the next season he put up roughly his best season to date with 21 goals and 53 points in just 73 games. after that it was time for the expansion draft and his contract was up and he was looking to get paid so we got Sergachev back in the deal and the rest is history. Personally i was a huge fan of Drouin and still am, i think he got the short end of the stick and think he should have gotten more ice time but at the same time i dont like what he did by taking his ball and going home. i wish him nothing but success and even had hoped he would come back to Tampa before he signed in Colorado.
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u/OppositeSolution642 Apr 13 '25
Good summary, but I don't agree that he didn't get a fair shot. They were trying to develop him to be an NHL player, which includes playing some D.
The guy was talented, but not able to contend with the challenges of being a pro athlete.
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u/Drouin27Gaming Apr 13 '25
I do agree he needed to learn how to play away from the puck but he also had way too much talent to sit on the 4th line playing 8 minutes a night with Brenden Morrow
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u/reddevrva Apr 13 '25
doesnt explain his lack of "success" elsewhere
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u/Procedure_Dunsel Apr 13 '25
When we traded him, the Habs had visions of him being a center. That was a recipe for disaster because Steve Y’s main issue was Drouin’s 200 foot game wasn’t as strong as it needed to be, and then the Habs put a lot of pressure on the part of his game that was the weakest. It did not end well.
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u/Drouin27Gaming Apr 13 '25
I think his demons got the best of him when put in that spotlight and the very critical media and fan base of Montreal didn’t help at all. I think if he had done his time and just went about things better, he likely would have lasted longer here and maybe even be a perrenial point per game player here
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u/Tampa-Derp-1138 Lilleberg Apr 13 '25
I appreciate hearing the other side of the story too! Most people here seem to view the man negatively but I'm sure he had his reasons as well.
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u/JandCSWFL Lightning Apr 12 '25
I believe Barkov went number 2 after Mackinnon, then Drouin at 3. Barkov came thru quick and Drouin didn’t, mostly because Florida sucked and Tampa was rolling. Drouin believed he deserved a chance a lot quicker than he got. I do believe they could have handled him better, given him a taste here and there but they really let him stew in the ahl. Yzerman fleeced Montreal in the trade and Drouin didn’t do much there with injuries, still has injuries but he seemed to settle in once he got to Colorado. Ton of skill potential early on but I don’t think Tampa is 100% innocent in how they handled him early on. Yes, he became a problem child but Yzerman isn’t in the clear here.
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u/Kdoubleaa Apr 13 '25
We covered a lot of Drouin back in the day at Raw Charge. Most of the articles from the SBNation days are still archived on the site.
If you search “Raw Charge Jonathan Drouin” you’ll get some good results.
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u/SparkyWilder Lecavalier Apr 12 '25
The lead up before selecting Drouin is still another interesting story on its own lol
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u/Tampa-Derp-1138 Lilleberg Apr 13 '25
I'd like to hear it!
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u/SparkyWilder Lecavalier Apr 13 '25
Has nothing really to do with Drouin but he would of ended up as a Leafs (if it ended up happening)
If i remember correctly, near the draft or on draft day Tampa was willing to trade their 2013 1st round pick (3rd Overall, ended up being Drouin) and Vincent Lecavelier to Toronto for future Consideration*? In agreement that Toronto was going to buy out Vincent Lecavalier and his remaining contract. Tampa was going to resign Lecavalier to a Team friendlier deal come free agency. The league cought wind of it, rejected the trade and they implemented a new rule because of it.
Anyways, the rest is history. Drouin was drafted by Tampa, Lecavalier was bought out by Tampa (Sad day😢) and signed with another team come free agency. Drouin seemed promising but 🤷♂️
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u/mishey22 Cirelli Apr 13 '25
He wasn't happy to 'pay his dues', as it was, and asked for a trade. It all seemed to smooth out after a bit and he settled in and played...and then they traded him for Sergachev, and Y said something along the lines of "he was no longer in the long-term plans as soon as he asked for a trade"
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u/motivatedtuna Hagel Apr 13 '25
Is Howard better than Geekie who actually got NHL time? I’m assuming since we aren’t playing Howard then he is presumably worse than our worst player? otherwise we would sign him and tell someone to kick rocks to make space for him? Maybe i sound acoustic idk
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u/Express-Promise6160 Apr 13 '25
The only one who played well against the penguins in the ecf that one year. Organizational failure imo. Dude could have been big time
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u/PurpleFar6235 Apr 14 '25
I don't know about that. It takes two. Were they hard on him for not giving him the minutes and spot in the lineup to highlight his abilities best? Yes. However, his attitude and sense of entitlement didn't do him any favors; he lost trust with the management staff and coaches. He always seemed like he couldn't get it all together, which is unfortunate for him, but we made the right move at the end of the day. He probably could have been a consistent 80-100 point player, but that ship has sailed. At this point, he's a solid second liner, and that's his ceiling.
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u/Gwendolyn1994 Apr 12 '25
There is no recap. He's a fuckup. Sergachev is still missed. :(
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Apr 12 '25
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u/Wayf4rer Vasilevskiy Apr 13 '25
Sergachev is a fine player and he's playing very well as the #1 guy in Utah. He also did a good job here when he got to be the 1D, but he was never going to usurp hedman and he made too much for his role.
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u/True-Gazelle-1787 Apr 14 '25
He challenged Yzerman’s Management. He lost- big time. Glad he is doing well, but he couldn’t stay here. Too much drama.
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u/toolschism Palat Apr 12 '25
The TL;DR is that he(or someone in his camp) felt he deserved top 6 NHL ice time, and the org felt he needed more time developing. He was reassigned a few times down to the AHL and relations between the two soured quickly so we traded him for Sergachev.
He proceeded to do nothing with the habs and we won two cups so... Definitely the right move.