The Tampa Bay Lightning have selected forward Jonathan Drouin with their first pick, (third overall) in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.
Profile on Jonathan Drouin (from Hockey’s Future.com)
History
2010-11: Jonathan Drouin was the leading scorer for the Lac Saint-Louis Lions midget AAA team in Quebec. Playing alongside Quebec Remparts prospect Anthony Duclair he scored 22 goals with 36 assists and had 38 penalty minutes in 38 regular season games. Drouin scored 11 goals with 17 assists in 15 playoff games. The Lions finished first in the Reebok Division and rolled through the Quebec playoffs; advanching to the Telus Cup national championship. In seven games at the Telus Cup he scored 2 goals with 4 assists and had 12 penalty minutes. He was the second player taken in the 2011 QMJHL Entry Draft behind Nathan MacKinnon; selected by Halifax.
2011-12: Drouin joined the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads in mid-season after starting the year in midget hockey with Lac Saint-Louis, and was Halifax’ second leading scorer in the playoffs behind MacKinnon. In 33 regular season games for Halifax he scored 7 goals with 22 assists and was minus-five with 12 penalty minutes. Drouin played a key role in the Mooseheads’ run to the QMJHL semifinals; scoring 9 goals with 17 assists and finishing plus-six with 4 penalty minutes in 17 games. Prior to joining Halifax he was dominant in Quebec midget AAA play, scoring 22 goals with 31 assists in 22 games. Drouin represented Quebec in the 2011 U17 World Hockey Challenge; scoring 2 goals with 3 assists in four games.
2012-13: Slowed by injury early in the year, Drouin had a breakout season for the Mooseheads and represented Canada in the 2013 World Junior Championship in Ufa. Playing for a dominant Halifax squad that won 58 of 68 games in the regular season, Drouin scored 41 goals with 64 assists and was plus-48 with 32 penalty minutes in 49 games. In Halifax’ first eight playoff games, all wins, he scored 4 goals with 11 assists and was plus-10. He played in six games for Canada, which finished fourth in the WJC, and scored 2 goals with 2 assists and was plus-four. Drouin was rated third among North American skaters in Central Scouting’s final rankings prior to the 2013 NHL Draft, and remained in that position in the CSS final rankings.
Talent Analysis
A wizard with the puck, Drouin has already lit up the highlight reels by making fans’ jaws drop and opposing defenders look foolish. He pairs his magical stickhandling ability with great lower-body strength that makes it nearly impossible to knock him off the puck. Meanwhile, his on-ice vision and ability to slow the game down makes him a threat both in scoring a goal himself and setting up a teammate with an excellent chance. A dynamic offensive forward that makes his linemates better.
This is the third time in the franchise’s history that they have held the third overall pick in the draft. Their previous selctions were forward Chris Gratton in 1993 and forward Alexandr Svitov in 2001.
