Of course the Montreal Canadiens locked up Jonathan Drouin
By Josh Hill
The Montreal Canadiens locked up recently acquired Jonathan Drouin to a six-year contract — because of course they damn did.
Hockey news is almost never a big deal in the middle of June, but every so often you feel a tremor. More often than not those tremors turn seismic, which is what the Montreal Canadiens are hoping. On Thursday the Habs ended up being the team to pull off the long waited Jonathan Drouin trade, and now have a major piece for the future.
News of Drouin’s trade to Montreal was big, but it wasn’t the end of the story. One reason — perhaps the chief reason — Tampa Bay was looking to move the young forward was because of his impending restricted free agency. The Lighting would have essentially been at the mercy of whoever wanted to offer Drouin a huge deal and risk losing him for nothing at all.
By trading him they at the very least took some control of the situation.
Montreal traded for and then almost immediately locked up Drouin — who was born and raised in Quebec — to a contract extension that takes him off the RFA market. The new deal pays out roughly $33 million over the next six seasons.
Raise your hand if you’re surprised by this.
Didn’t think so.
There was no way the Habs were making this deal without knowing they could sign Drouin to a deal that makes him a centerpiece in Montreal for years to come. While the Canadiens might have made the postseason they were bounced in the first round and have yet to make it past the Conference Finals in decades of trying.
It’s been since 1993 that the Habs have made it to the Stanley Cup, which is coincidentally the last time they’ve won it. In the near-quarter of a century since then, Montreal has only managed to make it as far as the Eastern Conference Finals, which happened as recently as three years ago.
P.K. Subban’s loss was felt in more ways than anticipated this year, and while Drouin won’t help fill the defensive gap he is going to be a face of the franchise for years to come. That, and his talent, should be worth every penny spent getting him to Montreal.