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At this point, I think it's clear the Habs lost the Sergachev/Drouin trade. JD hasn't lived up to the hype. I hope everything is good with him, but I think the best thing is to put him in the best position to shine at the start of next season and trade him when his value is highest. I don't have anything against Drouin, but this Stanley Cup run has proved to me that the Habs don't need Drouin.

If Drouin is back to being a functional pro again, that is good news for him on a human level, and good news for the Habs in that it gives them another option up front. I have to chuckle ruefully at our tendency to cling to fantasies that he will suddenly become an impact player. The guy is going into his 7th year as an NHLer. He has repeatedly been given massive opportunity and failed to do anything important with it. There will be no miraculous transformation. He’s a #6 FW who occasionally looks better than that: like Andrei Kostitsyn or Stephane Richer after his 50-goal seasons ended. Folks need to move past denial and bargaining to acceptance.

If his issue is the media/fan pressure in Montreal then how is it going to be different this time? Habs struggle, Drouin struggles, the pressure will mount again. We expect that Drouin will simply handle it better now? Very, very, very unlikely.