Halifax Moosehead Jonathan Drouin is back and racking up points at the level that made him the Canadian Hockey League Player of the Year last season.
Drouin was drafted third overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in this summer’s National Hockey League draft, but was sent back to the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in September.
The 18-year-old was disappointed not to be playing with the pros this season, but his play this month seems to prove he has moved past it.
“In the last month, he’s easily been the best player in the CHL,” says Mooseheads general manager Cam Russell. “He gives us a chance to win every single game he plays.”
Friday night, when the Mooseheads trounced the Acadie-Bathurst Titan 9-2, Drouin put on a five-point show and in nine games this month, he has racked up 30 points.
“It’s going pretty good,” says Drouin. “Points are going in. I think wins are more important, nine in a row.”
In last week’s opening game against Russia in the Subway Super Series, Drouin, who was captain of the Q-League team, assisted on all three goals.
“That just shows he’s at another level than everybody else. That is what it takes to get to the next level,” says teammate MacKenzie Weegar. “He knows when it is all business. I think that is what makes him a great hockey player and a great teammate.”
“If you want to make the World Juniors, you gotta show you can play,” says Drouin.
Drouin has played so well this month he was named CHL Player of The Week last week. However, his production was not up to his normal standards in October - his first month back in Halifax after returning from Tampa. He had 16 points in 11 games, strong by anybody else’s measure, but not what the talented Halifax centre is capable of.
“I tried to move on from getting cut from Tampa,” says Drouin. “It took some time for me to settle myself.”
Getting cut was a tough setback for a hockey player who, the year before, was CHL Player of the Year, Q-League MVP and Memorial Cup winner.
“He took some time, but I think it is normal at the same time, facing what he faced,” says Russell.
Russell describes his star as a work horse who seems to have healed.
“He’s picked up his game and played the way he’s capable and easily the best player on the ice every single night,” says Russell.
Mooseheads coach Dominique Ducharme says Drouin was drafted third because of his vision and skills.
“There is not too many guys in the NHL with hands like that and vision,” says Ducharme.
Drouin is now second in the league in scoring and the Mooseheads are first in their division.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Rick Grant
