Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin out 3-4 weeks
By Cory Buck
Tampa Bay Lightning forward and Jonathan Drouin will miss three to four weeks of playing time with a slight fracture in his thumb. That means the game’s top prospect will have to wait until the regular season is a few games old until he can learn if he’ll spend the year in the NHL or not.
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“I felt ready, I felt in shape and the way I wanted to feel when I showed up here,” Drouin said per Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune. “It’s unfortunate, but there’s not much you can do about it. You just have to go with it.”
While the team hasn’t committed to playing Drouin in the big leagues all year, it was widely expected that Drouin would not just play, but excel as one of the best rookies in the league. Now everyone will have to wait until the season is at least a few games old for Tampa in order to see what Drouin can bring.
“We wanted him to get in as many preseason games as possible just to get acclimated and comfortable and fit in with the group,” GM Steve Yzerman said. “So it’s a setback, but it’s a minor injury, and we just want to make sure it has time to heal. He’s in tremendous shape, he looked real good (in the prospect tournament). When he’s healthy and cleared, he’s going to play and we’ll go from there.”
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