TAMPA, Fla. – “You’re pissed off. You want a chance.”
Steven Stamkos is thinking back to how he felt in 2008, how Jonathan Drouin probably feels today.
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The first-overall selection in the ’08 draft, Stamkos went from a being a guy who nearly averaged a goal a game in the OHL to the end of the bench. As a teenage rookie, Stamkos sat out three games in 2008-09 and skated less than 10 minutes in 10 others.
“It’s easier to sit here now with [my success] and say it was the best thing for you, but it was tough at the time,” Stamkos, the most mature 25-year-old you’ll meet, said this week.
“You want an opportunity, but I came to the rink willing to work hard with a smile on my face. You try to put into perspective that you’re 18 years old playing in the best league in the world.”
Drouin is 20 years old, a highly touted third-overall pick, but he hasn’t been playing much. He’s seen action in just three of Tampa Bay’s 21 playoff games, and Wednesday night he watched from the press box as Chicago’s 20-year-old first-rounder, Tuevo Teravainen, played Game 1 hero.
This is not how 2014-15 was supposed to play out, yet Drouin is keeping a smile on his face. He wants his shot, but he masks the pissed-off.
“A lot of people thought I was locked in for a Calder at the beginning of the year, and when it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen,” Drouin told Sportsnset Tuesday. “It’s definitely disappointing. There’s not much you can do about it, but I was happy with my first year.”
Drouin played his last year of junior like he had a cheat code, throwing up 108 points in 46 games. This season he scored just four goals, added an impressive 28 assists, and sat out a dozen regular-season games.
“Stammer, when I got scratched for the first time, he told me the same thing happened to him his rookie year, and we talked about it,” Drouin said. “Off the ice, he’s such a normal guy. He’s not higher than anybody else. Stammer keeps everybody at the same level. Definitely a good guy to have as a leader.”
People expected goals galore from Drouin, whose 5.3 shooting percentage is bound to increase. The kid was such a Rookie of the Year favourite, an editor asked this writer in September to come up with three dark horses who might have an outside shot to better him.
“I like to score. I think at the beginning of the year I wasn’t shooting enough, and toward the end of the year I was putting more pucks to the net. I was happy my first year points-wise,” Drouin said. “In juniors you can make that extra play—that extra back-door pass for somebody that’s open—but in the NHL everyone’s watching you. It’s a tighter-checking game, and shooting the puck at the net is the better option, the smarter option in a lot of cases.”
We asked coach Jon Cooper about Drouin’s role on such a talent-rich offence just before the post-season run.
“Would you rather play more minutes on a team that might not make the playoffs, or play less minutes on a team that’s in the playoffs?” Cooper asked, rhetorically.
“Drouin is going to be an outstanding player in this league, but it’s really hard for a 19-year-old kid to come into this league and establish himself.”
Thursday, after watching his team’s Game 1 lead trumped by Teravainen, Cooper said without question he sees similarities in the two kids’ elite skill level.
“It’s good to have those guys in your arsenal. Who knows? Maybe we’ll see Jo here in [this series] in the future,” Cooper said. “We’re going to put the 20 guys in that we feel are going to win us the games that night.”
Remember, this is the same coach who scratched rookie Nikita Kucherov, then 20, for half of Tampa’s four playoff games in 2014. One year later, Kucherov has 19 points in 21 games and looks like a stud.
So what type of conversation did Cooper and his staff have with Drouin about his role entering the Cup Final?
“Nothing. We haven’t spoken about it,” said Drouin, who won’t dare ask to get in. “It doesn’t matter if you’re a rookie—you don’t control the coach’s decision. Whatever you’re told, you gotta go with it and prepare the right way to make sure you’re ready if you ever get your chance.”
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Following Game 1’s loss, Drouin, dressed in a suit, was spotted in an Amalie Arena hallway near the dressing room testing out a stick. Like every hockey player, as a kid he dreamed of skating in a Final, albeit with the Colorado Avalanche, fierce rivals of his GM Steve Yzerman’s Red Wings.
“I’m sure Steve’s not very happy about that,” Drouin cracked.
[Editor’s note: Drouin is on the record telling Sportsnet his favorite NHL player is Patrick Kane]
Stamkos says his rookie scratch made him a better, more appreciative player. Though “it sucked” at the time, the humbling spurred him to work closer with Gary Roberts. Now Drouin, too, is talking about how hard he will work out this summer.
“You dream about getting in those moments. You want to be in there,” Drouin said. “Definitely next year is going to be different.”
