Drouin a healthy scratch (similarities to Burke comments)

[ForeverFlameFan]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

There's a lot to like about what Yzerman has done as GM but passing over Seth Jones was a major blunder. I'm not passing off Druin as a failure or anything and I think the Lightning are doing the right thing for his development by not handing him NHL ice time. That said Jones could be contributing on that roster in the playoffs and could be an anchor for a long time while Druin looks like he's going to be a solid one way scoring forward which is more of a nice to have than a major building block.

Sure, but you have to think that Yzerman wanted Drouin so that there could be a Drouin-Stamkos-Kucherov line. Palat and Johnson have been amazing finds and pretty much makes Drouin expendable.

I do agree that they should have gone with Jones though, he was exactly what they needed.

[smiggy77]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Which many thought he was

Jones was def ranked higher than Drouin and it was a big shock that they passed over Jones if I remember correctly. Regardless, Drouin is a phenomenal player and I never believe in ragging on a young guy as sometimes they may need a bit more development. I do however believe Jones was more NHL ready at the time of the draft and could provide immediate impact to the team. Still a win with both players, just Drouin may need a bit more time.


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[robaur]

Bust.

[nightfx]

I couldn't believe Jones dropped to Tampa's pick and thought they would take him for sure. I guess in hindsight they didn't see Kucherov & Johnson becoming first liners so quickly so it's hard to blame them for taking the most skilled forward in the draft.

[FBI]

What I find concerning about Drouin is that wasn't he like a pure goal scorer? Now he's getting some assists but not finding the back of the net very much.

[GettinIggyWithIt]

Originally Posted by FBI

What I find concerning about Drouin is that wasn't he like a pure goal scorer? Now he's getting some assists but not finding the back of the net very much.

No - Drouin is more of a skilled forward and a playmaker but he can also certainly find the back of the net. If you look at his last junior season he had 29 goals and 79 assists.

Drouin will be a good player but in hindsight the Lightning certainly should have taken Jones given how their skilled forwards have developed. They won't have cap space and minutes for all of them in a few years so it'll be interesting to see who the Lightning will part with.

[GettinIggyWithIt]

Originally Posted by smiggy77

Jones was def ranked higher than Drouin and it was a big shock that they passed over Jones if I remember correctly. Regardless, Drouin is a phenomenal player and I never believe in ragging on a young guy as sometimes they may need a bit more development. I do however believe Jones was more NHL ready at the time of the draft and could provide immediate impact to the team. Still a win with both players, just Drouin may need a bit more time.


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I wouldn't say definitely. Early on the discussion was Jones/McKinnon for #1 but closer to the draft McKinnon was seen as consensus #1 and there were some questions as to who 2-4 would be. Drouin was seen as immensely talented, Barkov had the size and skill that scouts were drooling over and Jones was the potential #1 dman. I think the surprise was Barkov at #2. Drouin/Jones was a bit of a toss up. That's my recollection anyways.

[smiggy77]

Originally Posted by GettinIggyWithIt

I wouldn't say definitely. Early on the discussion was Jones/McKinnon for #1 but closer to the draft McKinnon was seen as consensus #1 and there were some questions as to who 2-4 would be. Drouin was seen as immensely talented, Barkov had the size and skill that scouts were drooling over and Jones was the potential #1 dman. I think the surprise was Barkov at #2. Drouin/Jones was a bit of a toss up. That's my recollection anyways.

Yeah from what I remember Barkov was always ranked at 4 and was definitely the surprise jump but again Florida drafted for position as well. I still think McKinnon was the number 1 and Jones was a close second with Drouin and Barkov as a toss up at 3 and 4 because of their different dynamics as players. At the end of the day it's all hindsight.


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[FAN]

Originally Posted by Yamer

Concerning Baertschi, I always felt that some fans established an early bond with the player because he really was the first exciting, flashy, bright spot in the franchise's cupboards. For good reason, I suppose, as he came in with a blaze in his NHL debut and was pretty darn electrifying in his Junior career. Thus, some took it kind of personal when it seemed Sven was being jilted.

Drouin is in the same boat: loads of skill and potential with some 2-way commitment issues. It wasn't something he needed to develop in Junior because he was such an explosive offensive talent. I would imagine expectations are higher for Jonathan than Sven, so it will be rather interesting to see how he responds over the next season or two.

And Lightning fans do feel Drouin would have developed better in another organization. And that's with Drouin being kept in the NHL and given significant PP time despite limited offensive production and suspect defense.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by smiggy77

And that is why you draft the best player available rather than for position

Tampa Bay was one of the best offensive teams in 2013. The Syracuse Crunch was the best team offensively in the AHL lead by Johnson (22), Connolly (20), Palat (21), Panik (21), and Killorn (22). Kucherov (19) was putting up nearly 2 points-per-game in Juniors while Namestnikov (19) was still highly regarded.

Defense, especially prospects who could play defense, was an organizational weakness for the team. One of the worst defensive teams in the league, their top 4 was Hedman, Carle, Salo and Brewer. Salo was nearing 40 and Brewer was over 30. In the prospect cupboard they did have Barberio but he was looked at as an offensive defenseman and never someone you looked at as being played against NHL top line talents. Gudas was also a potential NHL defender but most saw him as a bottom-pairing energy-providing defender.

They drafted Drouin because he was the best player, or so Yzerman thought. If it came down to position there's almost no chance that Yzerman would have passed on a defender.

[Hugh Jahrmes]

Originally Posted by GettinIggyWithIt

They won't have cap space and minutes for all of them in a few years so it'll be interesting to see who the Lightning will part with.

Drouin to NJD for.....?

[Tinordi]

Rumours of Drouin's demise are greatly exaggerated.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by saillias

Quote by Drouin when asked about his 200 foot game. "My game's fine." Exactly what you want to hear from your healthy scratch rookie forward...

I wanted the Flames to trade up and grab this guy, wow. Imagine how far back the rebuild would be if we had this guy instead of Monahan right now.

At the time Monahan seemed like a ho hum pick, no one expected 30 goals as a 20 year old. His offensive upside was questioned and being compared to a Daymond Langkow.

Ho hum? maybe to you and a few others but myself a lot more loved the pick and had him ranked 2nd for forwards behind MacKinnon.

If anyone did their homework they would have seen Monahan ranked 3rd by most outlets going into his draft year with the same amount of points as MacKinnon. He fell because of a bad groin and Ottawa gutted their team of any talent for him to play with.

[PeteMoss]

Originally Posted by Mike F

"There is more than one net in a rink. There's two. So you have to be able to play in front of both of them. ..."

That quote has so little context within the article, it makes me leery. I'm not saying it doesn't apply to Druin, but it would be nice to know how it came up in the conversation.

http://www.thescore.com/nhl/news/766377

Jon Cooper wants a lineup full of two-way forwards.

The Tampa Bay Lightning head coach offered a frank response when asked about his decision to bench Jonathan Drouin for the majority of the playoffs, saying the rookie forward has yet to display the kind of complete game needed in the postseason.

"There is more than one net in a rink. There's two," Cooper told reporters Sunday. "You have to be able to play in front of both."

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I actually don't recall many thinking that Drouin was a better player than Jones at the draft. Yes, he was a good pick at #3, but the fact that he was selected before Jones, who was still there for Nashville at #4, was pretty shocking at the time.

To be fair, the general consensus in the hockey world was that the top 4 in that 2013 draft (Mackinnon, Barkov, Jones, Drouin) were all interchangeable at any point during that season and you couldn't fault any team for taking any of them. It also made sense for TB to take Drouin. St Louis and Stamkos were a dynamic pairing and the thought was that one day Stamkos and Drouin would be that pairing of the next 10+ years when St Louis finally retired.

I think it was shocking that Jones didn't go to Colorado, given their holes on the back end. Just goes to show that it's foolish to predict what a player's career trajectory will be and to make concrete statements about which player is best before they have even played a single NHL game. You could even make the argument now that Monahan is CURRENLY the best player, which bodes well for us.

But really we can't judge anything from that draft until probably another 5, likely 10 years. I also think Drouin is too good for the CHL, but not good enough for the NHL yet. Which is fine, like most players his age. But I think that rule is stupid that he cannot play in the AHL until he is 20 and is stuck in the CHL.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

To be fair, the general consensus in the hockey world was that the top 4 in that 2013 draft (Mackinnon, Barkov, Jones, Drouin) were all interchangeable at any point during that season and you couldn't fault any team for taking any of them. It also made sense for TB to take Drouin. St Louis and Stamkos were a dynamic pairing and the thought was that one day Stamkos and Drouin would be that pairing of the next 10+ years when St Louis finally retired.

I think it was shocking that Jones didn't go to Colorado, given their holes on the back end. Just goes to show that it's foolish to predict what a player's career trajectory will be and to make concrete statements about which player is best before they have even played a single NHL game. You could even make the argument now that Monahan is CURRENLY the best player, which bodes well for us.

But really we can't judge anything from that draft until probably another 5, likely 10 years. I also think Drouin is too good for the CHL, but not good enough for the NHL yet. Which is fine, like most players his age. But I think that rule is stupid that he cannot play in the AHL until he is 20 and is stuck in the CHL.

At the end MacKinnon was considered by most as the top prospect and nobody was really surprised the Avs took him as he was considered the best player by many as his stock got higher as the draft approached. Jones was still considered the 2nd best prospect and the Panthers passing him over isn't really surprising seeing Tallon is kind of a goof but it was kind of a surprise the Lightning passed on him seeing the team was deficient on defensive prospects and he was ranked ahead of Druin on pretty well every players ranking you could find. In the end the Predators became the big winners not unlike the Flames last year in that at position 4 they got a player that some considered the best overall prospect in the draft.

[Vulcan]

LOL that Cammalleri for Drouin trade is looking better. At least you could say Cammalleri would offer more in these playoffs than Drouin is.

[driveway]

Originally Posted by Matata

TB has been adamant about really sheltering their rookies for their first season. It seems to be working, most of their rookies improve significantly from season 1 to 2.

Tampa Bay's radical swings up and down the standings have really benefitted them.

2004 they win the Cup, three seasons later (07-08) they're the worst team in the league, draft Stamkos 1st overall. The next season they're even worse but finish 2nd last and get Hedman.

80 points in 2009-10, then in 2010-11 they finish with 46 wins, 103 pts and make the Conference final. They follow that up with 84 point 11-12 and snag Palat in the 7th round, then they have an abysmal 3-11 record in non-OT one-goal-games (2-4 in OT/SO) in 2012-13 and grab Drouin 3rd overall.

They follow the aberrant 12-13 season with 46 wins and 101pts in 13-14 and 50 wins and 108pts in 14-15.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by driveway

Tampa Bay's radical swings up and down the standings have really benefitted them.

2004 they win the Cup, three seasons later (07-08) they're the worst team in the league, draft Stamkos 1st overall. The next season they're even worse but finish 2nd last and get Hedman.

80 points in 2009-10, then in 2010-11 they finish with 46 wins, 103 pts and make the Conference final. They follow that up with 84 point 11-12 and snag Palat in the 7th round, then they have an abysmal 3-11 record in non-OT one-goal-games (2-4 in OT/SO) in 2012-13 and grab Drouin 3rd overall.

They follow the aberrant 12-13 season with 46 wins and 101pts in 13-14 and 50 wins and 108pts in 14-15.

They certainly have been all over the map as a franchise. I don't see them picking early in the draft for a while now.

[Vinny01]

On CBC they had an info graphic that showed only Stamkos and Hedmen were on the 2011 team that lost in game 7 OT in 2011. Yzerman has put his stamp on the team and they look very good moving forward.

2011 the Lightning got Kucherov in the 2nd round, Palat in the 7th and signed Johnson as a free agent. 3 of their top 6 forwards.

BTW that 2011 draft looks deadly right now especially the later rounds. (Shaw, Gaudreau, Palat, Saad, Kucherov off the top of my head are good players drafted outside the first round)