The Montreal Canadiens announced on Wednesday that winger Jonathan Drouin had undergone minor surgery. They explained that this surgery helped to fix a fractured nose, though didn’t say when the injury occurred. Drouin isn’t expected to miss any prolonged time, continuing his summer training in a few weeks.
Many fans were curious as to why Drouin wasn’t mentioned when Team Canada announced their World Championship roster on Monday. This news helps hush said curiosity, though.
Medical update: Jonathan Drouin underwent surgery to repair a fractured nose.
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Jonathan Drouin Undergoes Minor Surgery
Drouin was able to tie a career-high in scoring this past season, netting 18 goals and 35 points for 53 points. This was also a career-high in assists and only three short of his record in goals. 2018-19 was his second season with the Canadiens since the team acquired him in June of 2017. That deal saw the Canadiens trade Mikhail Sergachev to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Drouin. There were also two conditional draft picks, one for each team, but neither were exercised.
Since that deal, Drouin has netted a total of 99 points through 158 games in Montreal. In contrast, Sergachev has scored 72 in 154 games as a part of the Lightning defence.
Drouin averaged just under 17 minutes of ice time each game. This was roughly a minute less than his average over the last two seasons. Towards the end of the year, he was lined up alongside rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Joel Armia on the team’s third line.
Seeing Drouin on the third line may come as a bit of a surprise to those looking from the outside. This demotion from the team’s top-six is the result of a handful of late-season struggles. Drouin only managed seven points through the last 25 games of the season. This number is inflated, though, by a four-point night on February 26.
When asked about his cold-streak, Drouin showed a healthy amount of maturity with his response. “For me, it’s just to look at that stuff and make sure you’re mature about it and take the good from the bad a little bit. Not just look at how bad it was… you got to find a way to gain from that.”
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