Fairy tales rarely pan out in pro sports. History is littered with Cinderellas who couldn’t quite make it back home before the clock struck midnight.
The NHL playoffs are no different, and for every underdog squad that punches through on the grandest stage, there are nine others that are exposed in the high-pressure situations that make up the postseason.
Enter Jonathan Drouin of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who has become the league’s darling overnight. By now you all know the story, so there’s little reason to account for what has already been accounted two dozen times in the past 24 hours.
The player himself has stressed that all he wants to do is move forward and play hockey, telling gathered media after an impressive Game 4 performance the following (according to Kevin Allen at USA Today):
“I’m not really thinking about what happened before. I’m past that point. I’m just playing hockey. Definitely feels really good. I don’t think it’s surreal. I’m happy to be back here helping the team.”
It’s tough to blame Drouin for wanting to move past what has already happened. He’s had a whirlwind 2016 so far, but now seems like a good time to look ahead. Perhaps as far as this summer, when the dust of the playoffs has settled and the Lightning and Drouin decide what the future holds for their professional relationship.
This is going to be a complicated summer for general manager Steve Yzerman. Steven Stamkos hasn’t played since Mar. 31, which has made it difficult for talking heads to to yap about his pending free agency status every time he touches the puck during a live broadcast. The Lightning are playing so well right now that Stamkos’ status has become a bit of an afterthought.
That will change as soon as Tampa finishes the playoffs–whether it be as Stanley Cup champions or at the hands of the Detroit Red Wings in the quarterfinal series.
Some will spin Drouin’s future in Florida into the larger Stamkos narrative, but one shouldn’t impact the other. The former still has one more year left on his entry-level deal and remains under the Lightning’s proverbial thumb, while the latter can flee for any other hockey city in the world with the stroke of a pen.
That is to say that there shouldn’t be any question about 21-year-old’s immediate future in the NHL. He should spend at least another year with the Lightning, letting bygones be bygones and playing in a top-six role in 2016-17.
Tampa head coach Jon Cooper gushed about the forward after Game 4 (also from Allen at USA Today):
“The one thing that gets missed in all of this – we never ever gave up on Jonathan. He’s a young kid and he’s finding his way in pro hockey. I’ve said numerous times, he had a feeling, or whatever it was, and he made a decision and stuck to it. You have to give him credit. He took a stand. We can debate whether it was right or wrong, but the way it turned out … he came back and made a choice to succeed.”
That doesn’t sound like a bench boss who is toeing the company line. Cooper legitimately seems to understand — and even respect — where Drouin was coming from a few months ago.
Probably because he knows what so many pundits seemed to forget as the saga was unfolding in early January: that sometimes people in their early 20’s botch situations and don’t necessarily do the right thing.
It says a lot about Drouin’s character that he sucked it up and reported to the AHL eventually. Of course he’d go on to dominate once returning, and the Stamkos injury opened the door for him to play big minutes for the Lightning. That’s the way fairy tales go though. Things fall into place at the right time, and coincidences coincide to lead to a happy ending.
So what’s the happy ending for Yzerman, Cooper and Drouin?
It may seem like a knee-jerk reaction to write that the former third-overall pick is ready to take over the NHL as a dominating offensive force. The Detroit Red Wings are, without a doubt, the most ineffective team that managed to make the postseason and Drouin has looked stellar against the likes of Niklas Kronwall and Gustav Nyquist. It remains to be seen what will happen when he lines up against a Brent Burns or Drew Doughty.
One thing is clear though. Drouin has proven that he has what it takes to be an impact professional hockey player. Last October, that was the biggest knock against him. Some wondered whether he had what it takes to be a game-breaker night in and night out across an 82-game regular season.
We didn’t get the chance to find out for sure in 2015-16, but that shouldn’t prevent the Lightning from hanging on to this asset for one more season.
Was always told Jonathan Drouin had talent, but no proof he understood how to be a pro. He seems to be getting it and the talent is showing.
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) April 20, 2016
It doesn’t matter who was right or who was wrong in the past. Yzerman himself knows this better than anyone.
It’s a dusty old fable now, but once upon a time in 1995-96, the Red Wings were quite close to moving him to the Ottawa Senators. It was because he had been labeled as a player who couldn’t hack it in the playoffs, and some say that the trade was so close to happening that Detroit ownership had to step in and squash it.
Hindsight is 20/20 and it worked out for Yzerman and the Red Wings. Despite his current post in Tampa he is still one of the most beloved sports figures in Detroit history. Maybe Drouin’s story won’t take on such a dramatic turn, but at this stage it seems like he really should be part of the solution for the Lightning.
Yzerman is going to have to be a salary cap acrobat to keep his current roster together. Stamkos is going to be looking for a monster raise this summer — which is where most of the attention has been focused — but Alex Killorn, J.T. Brown, Vladislav Namestnikov, Nikita Kucherov, Cedric Paquette and Nikita Nesterov all will be restricted free agents as well.
If that’s not enough to cause Lightning fans some anxiety, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat will also need new contracts after next season. So will Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy. With the salary cap unlikely to sky rocket in the next 24 months, that leaves a lot of question marks for Tampa.
Drouin shouldn’t be among them, though. He’s played his way through a rough patch and has proven that he can be a high-end contributor.
The Lightning should do their due diligence with Drouin, and the same goes for their entire roster. If a rival GM hands Yzerman a deal he can’t pass up for the budding forward, then by all means take it. But aggressively and actively pursuing a trade involving Drouin should be put on the back burner.
Cap data appears courtesy of GeneralFanager.com.
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