That's cute and all, and you can tell he's obviously very creative and good with his hands, but that works 1 time out of 100 in the NHL.
It's not the play itself; it's the quality being shown. His hands, his drive, his playmaking...willingness to go to the net and take a shot. The guy plays like the puck is chained to his stick.
Whoever doesn't pick him up to when he gets picked will look back on it as a big mistake. Drouin is going to be a superstar.
Drouin is putting up the 2nd best ppg in his draft year out of anyone drafted in the last 10 years outside of one Sidney Crosby. He's also closing that gap with every game. Right now he's on pace to put up 135 points in 62 games (Crosby put up 168 but what much more physically developed IMO).
Some people I know were sitting near MacKinnon when he was out vs PEI a little bit ago. Drouin scored 3 that night and they said even MacKinnon was in awe of Drouin's skill.
It's not the play itself; it's the quality being shown. His hands, his drive, his playmaking...willingness to go to the net and take a shot. The guy plays like the puck is chained to his stick.
Whoever doesn't pick him up to when he gets picked will look back on it as a big mistake. Drouin is going to be a superstar.
Drouin is putting up the 2nd best ppg in his draft year out of anyone drafted in the last 10 years outside of one Sidney Crosby. He's also closing that gap with every game. Right now he's on pace to put up 135 points in 62 games (Crosby put up 168 but what much more physically developed IMO).
Forgot about Kane, although he did play on an offensively ridiculous team.
Although Drouin does have 45 points in his last 18 games and has only stepped up since MacKinnon has been out. I think he can still close the gap in the point area with Kane and Crosby...just a phenomenal player.
What will he have to do for people being realistic about him going 1st overall?
No matter how complete and gritty MacKinnon's game is, his PPG is 1.68 to Drouin's 2.21. As for Jones, well.. who cares? Flip a coin, they'll both be stars (if all things go as planned). For all we know, Jones might be Erik Johnson 2.0 .
Patrick Kane went 1st, despite him being listed at 5-9 and 160. Just saying.
Forgot about Kane, although he did play on an offensively ridiculous team.
Although Drouin does have 45 points in his last 18 games and has only stepped up since MacKinnon has been out. I think he can still close the gap in the point area with Kane and Crosby...just a phenomenal player.
actually the Moose have 10 less goals in 8 less games, so I think Drouin played on the more "ridiculous" offense lol.
Whoever doesn't pick him up to when he gets picked will look back on it as a big mistake. Drouin is going to be a superstar.
So you're saying GM's will regret taking Jones and MacKinnon? Drouin could be a superstar, but I only see him making it to #3 ... It's not like the players in front of him aren't great too ...
What will he have to do for people being realistic about him going 1st overall?
No matter how complete and gritty MacKinnon's game is, his PPG is 1.68 to Drouin's 2.21. As for Jones, well.. who cares? Flip a coin, they'll both be stars (if all things go as planned). For all we know, Jones might be Erik Johnson 2.0 .
Patrick Kane went 1st, despite him being listed at 5-9 and 160. Just saying.
Drouin's PPG doesn't matter to me. MacKinnon plays a pro game already, Drouin doesn't. He might adapt (I think he will) or his "junior" stuff might fail. He is a riskier pick than MacKinnon and while he has more upside, his ceiling isn't THAT much higher than MacKinnon. If I had the first overall pick, I'd go with MacKinnon, he is a sure fire star. Drouin could be Patrick Kane or he could never make it.
That being said, I love Jonathan Drouin as a player and I wish him the best. He is the most exciting player of the two and he is also the more skilled. Doesn't mean he is the best pick.
Amazing talent. He definitely should go #1 overall, I've been wondering why he hasn't been officially ranked #1 yet. He is the supreme talent of his draft class.
I wonder how many times that "Shift of the year" video will get posted. I counted 3 times already in only 4 pages..
Drouin's PPG doesn't matter to me. MacKinnon plays a pro game already, Drouin doesn't. He might adapt (I think he will) or his "junior" stuff might fail. He is a riskier pick than MacKinnon and while he has more upside, his ceiling isn't THAT much higher than MacKinnon. If I had the first overall pick, I'd go with MacKinnon, he is a sure fire star. Drouin could be Patrick Kane or he could never make it.
That being said, I love Jonathan Drouin as a player and I wish him the best. He is the most exciting player of the two and he is also the more skilled. Doesn't mean he is the best pick.
Great post, I agree with all of it. Drouin is not going to be able to dangle the whole team in the NHL. He's not going to be Able to float and be anemic in the dirty areas. He's not going to be able to put his head down for so long or rely on his hands to generate the mAjority of his offense. Whereas mackinnons game should translate very well very quickly. I do have faith that drouin is smart enough to adjust and will be a star in the NHL. But mackinnon will likely also be a star with less offensive potential but less downside risk.
Not only should Drouin be the QMJHL MVP, he should also be the CHL MVP. Tell me who else in the CHL is having a better season. When was the last time someone won the CHL MVP in their draft year and didn't get picked first overall?
drouin is going to be the best of his draft for sure.... he is going to make the same play in the nhl giroux+ datsuyk = DROUIN .... parise,kessel = MAC
Not only should Drouin be the QMJHL MVP, he should also be the CHL MVP. Tell me who else in the CHL is having a better season. When was the last time someone won the CHL MVP in their draft year and didn't get picked first overall?
Drouin elevating his play without Mack in the lineup is a major boost to his draft status.
If Drouin can play center I think he will definitively hop Mack in the rankings, and maybe even push jones for the #1 overall.
I've been saying that with MacKinnon out of the line-up it will help (now is helping) Drouin. For two reasons. One, he is the near sole-focal point of scouts now. Two, without MacKinnon there is more pressure on him. And there are also people wondering how much he benefits from MacKinnon. Drouin is a better player the more pressure that is on him, plain and simple. Honestly I would've been shocked if his play didn't start elevating his play the past week or two and that should only grow as the playoffs loom closer. (Not to mention it's seemed ever since his first day in the QMJHL that he improves every game pressure aside.)
Then he comes alive in the playoffs. I can't wait to watch him then, he's been the funnest moosehead to watch since his third month in the league or so imo.
Assuming the mooseheads make the Memorial Cup I am even more excited to see what he does there. Maybe he'll cave under pressure but every little piece of evidence suggests he'll play better.
In addition to the MacKinnon being gone thing too, in terms of players to play with... let's not forget just how good the mooseheads are as a whole, especially at this level of hockey.
Not only should Drouin be the QMJHL MVP, he should also be the CHL MVP. Tell me who else in the CHL is having a better season. When was the last time someone won the CHL MVP in their draft year and didn't get picked first overall?
Being the best player at the CHL level doesn't as a rule make it a smart idea to draft them first. Maybe as a rule of thumb but not as a rule. I might be proven wrong, and I hope I am because Drouin has been my favourite moosehead pretty much since he first laced up and by the playoffs I realized (imo) he better than MacKinnon at this level. I maintained though that MacKinnon most likely has the higher NHL upside, though it's not impossible that Drouin will be better. This belief hasn't changed. Right now though MacKinnon is more NHL ready and a safer bet to draft ahead of Drouin. Gambling on Jon might pay off beautifully, but it isn't the safe choice and when it comes to North American skaters the safe choice is usually the route taken when picking. Maybe I am too conservative... And MacKinnon aside, I certainly don't see him going ahead of Jones.
In the last 30 drafts:
Corey Locke: 151 points in 66 games with the Ottawa 67's, drafted 111th overall in 2003
Pierre-Marc Bouchard: 140 points in 69 games with the Chicoutimi Saguenéens, drafted eighth overall in 2002
Mike Ricci: 116 points in 60 games with the Peterborough Petes, drafted fourth overall in 1990
Pat LaFontaine: 234 points in 70 games with the Verdun Juniors, drafted third overall in 1983
Great post, I agree with all of it. Drouin is not going to be able to dangle the whole team in the NHL. He's not going to be Able to float and be anemic in the dirty areas. He's not going to be able to put his head down for so long or rely on his hands to generate the mAjority of his offense. Whereas mackinnons game should translate very well very quickly. I do have faith that drouin is smart enough to adjust and will be a star in the NHL. But mackinnon will likely also be a star with less offensive potential but less downside risk.
Just saw this post reading back further and agree.
Drouin has shown that he's a fast learner and quickly adapts so far but the NHL is a pretty big learning step. To me his status next season is complicated because if he isn't good enough to make a pretty good impact with his NHL club right out of the gate he won't get much ice time. However getting tons of ice time in the QMJHL won't help him next year, in fact it might do more harm than good.
Doing what he is doing this year again next year, except even better with age will have limited benefit. But he does need ice time too. I suspect if he does stick with an NHL club for the year next year, he will start off slow, but hopefully whoever he plays for (presumably a weak team so therefore it might be worthwhile even if he is a liability for them at times) will give him enough ice time even if he isn't playing quite well enough yet to warrant it strictly in terms of performance. Be patient and stick with it game in game out, only after quite a while passes if he isn't improving at all or is slumping then react accordingly.
However if he is beginning to show signs of consistent improvement then just keep his TOI around the same, as long as he's playing enough every game to keep learning. By the mid-way point of the season he'll probably start showing big strides and by the end of the year he'd evolve as a player far more than had he done his thing and put up 150 pts in the Q.
With Drouin I see him as more of a gamble and my confidence in projecting him are lower, so while I have a pretty good idea of how I think MacKinnon will do, my confidence with Drouin is lower. What I said above is how I think the situation will go, but it won't surprise me at all if he does amazing from the start of the year and would look number 1 pick worthy.
Moose don't have a top line like those Knights.
