Much has been made about the Jonathan Drouin trade rumours, particularly those to Montreal.The rumour mill has it that players like Mike McCarron, Nathan Beaulieu, Alex Galchenyuk, Jarred Tinordi, Jeff Petry and Sven Andrighetto, amongst others, may be sent to Tampa for a premium price set by Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman for division rivals.
Brian Wilde of CTV initially reported that the Canadiens were agressively pursuing the 20-year-old Quebec native on Wednesday night, days after Drouin’s agent, Allan Walsh expressed his client’s desire to be moved out of the Sunshine State.
BREAKING: HABS CH I can confirm from a strong source the Habs are aggressively pursuing Drouin.
— BrianWilde (@BWildeCTV) January 7, 2016
However, on Saturday morning, Pat Hickey of the Montreal Gazette, said that it was unlikely that the Drouin trade rumours to Montreal is unlikely to be fulfilled. Hickey’s theory is more plausible than that of his counterpart, Wilde.
Jonathan Drouin Trade Rumours: Montreal Not a Fit
Drouin has scored 40 points in 89 games over parts of two seasons in his young NHL career. He is in coach Jon Cooper’s doghouse and has averaged a mere 11 minutes per game, but has managed to lead the Lightning in even strength points per 60 minutes, with 1.66. Despite his production, he is largely underrated and he has been reassigned to the team’s AHL affliate, the Syracuse Crunch. He started well, with two goals in his first game after being sent down.
The Montreal Canadiens have a particular interest for homegrown talent and the St. Agathe, Quebec, native is exactly what the team is looking for; a talented winger with sky-high potential. The latter quality might not ring true. Drouin has not developed as much as his third overall selection in the 2013 NHL Draft originally predicted and his peers from that draft class are excelling far past him.
Players like Nathan McKinnon (1st, 136 points in 188 games), Aleksander Barkov (2nd, 86 points in 156 games) and Sean Monahan (6th, 123 points in 196 games) are all mainstays on NHL rosters and have more value than Drouin today. Even if he does have untapped potential, so do all these players and one can only imagine how dangerous the other players can be once they’re in their prime. Even the Canadiens 25th pick from that draft, McCarron, has been growing faster than expected and in his first year of pro hockey and has been named to the AHL All-Star Classic.
Coach Jon Cooper can be largely the reason for his inability to produce as he has preferred to leave Drouin on the bench or in the press box. Drouin played only six games during the team’s Stanley Cup Final run last spring, a surprise considering the amount of physical energy he could have brought.
Tampa Bay might be searching for an NHL ready right handed defenceman and the Canadiens don’t have many that are of any value to this trade. Petry and P.K. Subban are untouchable, while Jarred Tinordi, Alexei Emelin, Tom Gilbert and Greg Pateryn simply don’t have enough value for Drouin. Emelin and Tinordi are both left-handed shots but can play on the right side. Noah Juulsen, the Canadiens first round pick in 2015, may have some value but is not NHL ready.
According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, Yzerman has set a premium for division rivals and does not want to send this young star to another club that might beat his in the playoffs. Teams from the Western Conference have the best chance to acquire Drouin. Even teams in the Metropolitan Division might have to pay a large sum- the New York Rangers paid a hefty price for Martin St. Louis in 2014.
The Canadiens also have bad luck with Quebec-born players. P.A. Parenteau and Daniel Brière both lasted a season in each of the last two years and ended up in Michel Therrien’s doghouse. Players like Benoit Pouliot, Guillaume Latendresse and Mike Ribeiro all underachieved with their home province’s team and the Habs brass are looking to avoid future mistakes ever since. David Desharnais, Mark Barberio and Torrey Mitchell are the only Quebec-born players, while Paul Byron is from the nearby Ottawa and played in the QJMHL.
Hometown boy Louis Leblanc was drafted by the Canadiens in 2009 and was highly touted by fans and media personalities alike. He was one of the great draft busts in an otherwise fantastic drafting era from Trevor Timmons. Leblanc played 50 games for the Canadiens between 2011 and 2014 and managed to only score five goals and five assists. He was traded to the Anaheim Ducks in June 2014 and failed to crack their roster, eventually moving to the KHL.
The pressure from the fans for him to excel on the ice clearly weighed down on Leblanc’s shoulders and the Canadiens would not want a repeat of that with Drouin.
Bergevin is also reluctant on pulling big trades after Bob Gainey pulled off the possibly worst trade this century in Canadiens history and nearly pulled an even worse trade in 2009. Ryan McDonagh, originally drafted by the Canadiens in 2007, was dealt to the New York Rangers in a package deal in exchange for Scott Gomez.
Gainey also reportedly had a deal on the table to acquire Vincent Lecavalier for Subban, Carey Price, Max Pacioretty and a first round draft pick. Luckily, Gainey pulled out and the three players remain the pillars and leaders of the Canadiens to this day.
If Bergevin were to look at past trades, it would be wise to keep his cards in his pocket and allow other teams to bid for Drouin. Although the Jonathan Drouin trade rumours are heating up, the player will just not fit with the Montreal Canadiens and might have a better future elsewhere- whether it be in Tampa Bay or in any other of the NHL cities.
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