JURY’S OUT ON WHO WON DROUIN TRADE
Canadiens forward and Bolts defenceman Sergachev have both had ups and downs
When judging the winner of a big trade in the NHL, it’s always a good idea to wait a few years to see how things turn out — especially when two young players are involved.
The trade that sent defenceman Mikhail Sergachev from the Canadiens to the Tampa Bay Lightning two summers ago in exchange for forward Jonathan Drouin is a perfect example.
Last season, the Lightning looked like they were the winners after Sergachev, now 20, posted 9-31-40 totals and a plus-11 rating in 79 games. Drouin, 23, had 13-3346 totals in 77 games and was minus-28 while the Canadiens tried to jam a square peg into a round hole by making him a centre.
Things look a little different this season. Sergachev has suffered a bit of a sophomore jinx, posting 3-16-19 totals and a plus-6 in 54 games while being a healthy scratch five times. Drouin has 1729-46 totals along with a minus-3 in 59 games and, if he maintains his offensive pace, will set a career high in points, topping the 21-3253 totals he posted the season before the trade.
That doesn’t mean everything is perfect with Drouin — far from it. The Canadiens’ 0-3 road trip, which wrapped up with Sunday night’s 6-3 loss to the Florida Panthers, is one Drouin would rather forget. In the first two games, two giveaways by Drouin led directly to goals. In Sunday’s game, Drouin took a silly and selfish slashing penalty after losing the puck deep in the offensive zone and finished as a minus-3. Drouin ended the road trip with no points and a minus-6 rating. He has been held pointless in his last four games, in which the Canadiens are 0-3-1.
The Canadiens flew home from Florida Monday and will face the Columbus Blue Jackets Tuesday at the Bell Centre (7:30 p.m., TSN2, RDS TSN 690 Radio). After Sunday’s loss, they were barely clinging to a wild-card playoff spot.
Drouin can be incredibly frustrating to watch because he’s sort of like the little girl with the curl in the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem There Was a Little Girl: When he’s good, he’s very good indeed. But when he’s bad, he’s horrid. He is like a younger version of former Canadien Alex Kovalev.
Drouin needs to be the good boy with the curls coming out of his helmet more often.
Things haven’t gone perfectly for Sergachev this season, either.
“I still have turnovers and not good defensive plays, but I feel like I’m getting there,” Sergachev said after practice Friday at Amalie Arena.
“Watching videos with the coaches and working at practices, I feel like I’m getting there, yeah.”
Brian Engblom, who won three Stanley Cups as a defenceman with the Canadiens, has had a close-up view of Sergachev’s development as a TV colour analyst for Lightning games.
“It’s one thing to make the NHL ... it’s another thing to stay,” Engblom said after the Lightning’s morning skate Saturday at Amalie Arena. “Especially when you’re a defenceman. Look at guys like Shayne Gostisbehere in Philly. He came on and was gangbusters as a rookie and everyone went, ‘Wow!’ And then his next year he had struggles.”
Gostisbehere posted 17-29-46 totals in 64 games as a rookie with the Flyers in 2015-16 and was plus8. This season, he has 6-21-27 totals in 56 games and a minus-15 rating.
“I think Sergy’s done a good job of just hanging in there and realizing that, OK, now the league knows him and they know he’s got good moves and they know he’s got quick feet and you have to withstand that extra focus,” Engblom said. “I think he’s done a good job of that. I think he’s better on the defensive side of the puck, he’s better going back for pucks and being more aware. He has to be more judicious with the puck this year because he just surprised a lot of people last year. I mean, he
Is he (Mikhail Sergachev) going to be a high-end offensive guy? I’m not sure.
made some moves that left people in the dust and they went: Who is this kid? Well, that doesn’t happen anymore. So that’s kind of what we’re talking about.
“So he’s going through that process. I think he’s still finding out who he is at the NHL level. What he was in junior, it’s like every player coming into the NHL. Everybody’s pretty darn good offensively at whatever level they played, whether junior or college or whatever in Europe. And you come over and you find out you can’t be that guy here. These guys are really good, so what am I now? I think he’s still in that process … for me, he’s still in that process. He’s got some really good offensive skills. Is he going to be a high-end offensive guy? I’m not sure. I’m not saying he’s not. But the process is still on, I guess, is the best way to put it.”
That’s why you can’t judge the winner of a trade too early — especially when young players are involved.
Stay tuned.