The looming NHL expansion draft helped make Jonathan Drouin a Montreal Canadien.
The Canadiens plucked the skilful 22-year-old winger from Tampa Bay on Thursday afternoon in exchange for 2016 first-round pick Mikhail Sergachev and a conditional second-round pick in 2018. The Canadiens later announced that they signed Drouin to a six-year contract extension worth a reported $ 33 million US.
“It’s just really surreal,” Drouin said at a news conference. “I’m still kind of in shock that it actually happened.”
The Lightning made the move with next week’s expansion draft and salary cap in mind.
#Habs newest forward holds up his new colours. #Habs say Drouin just inked a 6 year deal. pic.twitter.com/DUmza4gw2H
Drouin gives the Canadiens a much-needed dose of offensive upside and creativity. The third overall pick in 2013, and native of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Que., Drouin had a career-best 21 goals and 53 points last season, including nine goals and 26 points on the power play.
He’s a speedy, shifty and skilled force on the wing (perhaps at centre too) and someone who instantly upgrades a Montreal lineup that sometimes struggled to score last season and was knocked out in the first round by the New York Rangers.
The clock is ticking on the Habs’ competitive window with Shea Weber due to turn 32 this summer, Max Pacioretty closing in on 30 and Carey Price approaching potential free agency next summer.
“My job is the same every day,” said Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin. “When I wake up I try to make this team better and for the next two weeks especially, with the crunch we’re in, I’ll try that. And you know, anything is possible.”
“Like I always say, expect the unexpected,” Bergevin added as he smiled at Drouin beside him.
Defenceman Mikhail Sergachev, who played this past season with Windsor of the Ontario Hockey League, goes to Tampa along with a second-round draft pick. (Dennis Pajot/Getty Images)
The trade ends a rocky four-year tenure in Tampa for Drouin, who clashed with head coach Jon Cooper and was suspended by the club at one point following a trade request. He ultimately rejoined the group for the 2016 playoffs and piled up 14 points in 17 games. He followed that up this past season with his most productive NHL campaign.
The prospect of re-signing Drouin — along with expansion — was a likely factor in Tampa’s decision to part with him. Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman has a tight rope to walk with regard to the cap in the coming weeks, with Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat also both due new deals.
“Ultimately our biggest need and our biggest goal was to acquire a puck-moving defenseman and we were able to do that,” Yzerman said on a conference call.
Trading Drouin allows Tampa, which also netted a conditional sixth-round pick in 2018, to protect one more player ahead of Wednesday’s expansion draft with protection lists due for submission on Saturday. The Lightning were faced with potentially losing promising 24-year-old centre Vladislav Namestnikov for nothing.
While Drouin is a big loss to their long-term talent pool, they get a high-upside 18-year-old defenceman in Sergachev who is exempt from selection by Las Vegas. The ninth overall pick in 2016 won the OHL’s defenceman of the year award after the 2015-16 season when he had 17 goals and 57 points in 67 games for Windsor.
The Canadiens also announced the signing of Charles Hudon to a two-year, one-way contract. The 22-year-old Alma, Que., native had 27 goals and 49 points in 56 regular-season games with the American Hockey League’s St. John’s IceCaps last season.
