Jonathan Drouin Needs To Check His Ego At The Door, Get Back On The Ice

Estranged Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin needs to check his ego at the door and get back on the ice and play some hockey.

The Tampa Bay Lightning has had more than their fair share of ups and downs this season. From numerous injuries to unrelenting drama, fans here in the Bolts Nation have just about seen it all. Unfortunately, much of the negativity that has been looming in the skies here in the Bolts Nation has surrounded one single person; estranged Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin.

After missing more than a couple games due to an injury, Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman decided to assign Jonathan Drouin to the Lightning’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, for a conditioning assignment. This is pretty common practice for someone coming back from injury. It gives them an opportunity to shake off the rust and get back into game shape.

Unfortunately for the Lightning, Drouin didn’t seem to think he needed any conditioning time and was rather miffed about the whole situation. Just 24 hours after being assigned to the Crunch, the young Quebec native released a statement through his agent Allan Walsh stating his client had requested a trade from the Tampa Bay Lightning back in November. A request which, obviously, wasn’t granted.

From there, things turned into a bit of a media sideshow. The following day, it was announced that Drouin would be addressing the media upon his arrival in Syracuse the next day. Unfortunately, when Drouin finally did speak to the media he had no intentions of speaking about the trade request. You know…the one thing everyone wanted to talk about.

Despite the chaos surrounding his arrival in Syracuse, Jonathan Drouin did report as requested. Drouin seemed to be on the fast track to making his way back to the Tampa Bay Lightning’s main roster. In his very first game with the Crunch, Drouin would score two goals. Unfortunately, other than one assist, this would be the end of Drouin’s production. As you can imagine, this is not how you get called back to the main roster.

On January 20, 2016, things went from bad to nuclear. Jonathan Drouin had decided playing in the AHL was beneath him and he decided to take his skates and go home, refusing to report for the Syracuse Crunch’s matchup with the Toronto Marlies.

As you can imagine, this is in breach of his contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Yzerman had no choice but to suspend him indefinitely without pay.

This is where we find ourselves right now. It has now been 45 days since Jonathan Drouin has taken the ice with the Tampa Bay Lightning organization, whether it be in the NHL or the AHL. As the Tampa Bay Lightning prepare themselves for another opportunity to hold Lord Stanley’s Cup high above their heads, Drouin sits at home on his couch and watches his potentially prosperous career fly right past him.

There was a point and time where we wanted to give Jonathan Drouin the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was a good kid who was just getting horrible advice from a greedy agent who thought he could squeeze blood out of a turnip. Unfortunately, at the crossroads in which we currently find ourselves, this no longer becomes about a good kid taking bad advice. We are now looking at a professional athlete who has allowed his ego to overcompensate his skill set and is suffering because of it.

This is not to say Jonathan Drouin is not a talented player. Along with Nathan MacKinnon, who now plays for the Colorado Avalanche, Jonathan Drouin was a superstar in the QMJHL as a member of the Halifax Mooseheads. Even in the time Drouin spent on the Lightning’s main roster, we could see short spurts of the hockey player he could be. Unfortunately, it seems as if his pride had blocked him from seeing the bigger picture.

Related Story: Jonathan Drouin Could Learn A Lot From John Scott

Whether it was nothing more than a nicety on behalf of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization, Steve Yzerman has said publically the Tampa Bay Lightning would welcome Jonathan Drouin back to the team should he decide this is the route he would like to travel. At the same time, Yzerman is also willing to grant his request and trade him to another organization should he find a deal that is mutually beneficial for both sides.

There is one constant that needs to happen if either one of the aforementioned statements is going to happen at some point over the course of Drouin’s remaining contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Jonathan Drouin needs to suck up his ego, put the past behind him, and act like a professional and get back on the ice.

Despite how a majority of the fan base may feel about him at this particular point and time, the players in the locker room still seem to have a lot of respect for him. A number of them would love to see him make a return to the team and continue on the path to being the breakout superstar he has the potential to be. The door is always open. Sure, it would be awkward for a little while, but things would get better over time if he just put in the work.

On the other side of the spectrum, if Jonathan Drouin has made up his mind once and for all that he no longer wishes to play for the Tampa Bay Lightning and would like to continue his career in a different uniform that is fine as well. At this point, this would be the option a number of people here in the Bolts Nation would choose if they were given the choice.

Unfortunately, we can’t imagine a single team in the NHL who is going to give the time of day to a player they can’t even effectively scout. How are they supposed to see if Drouin is a proper fit for their organization if they can’t watch him play? At the same time, if you were the General Manager of another team, would you give consideration to a player who takes his skates and goes home when he doesn’t get his way?

Yeah,…we didn’t think so either.

Related Story: Drouin Continues To Prove What We Suspected All Along

If we had one opportunity to speak to Jonathan Drouin, this is what we would say to the young forward.

Ok, we get it. You don’t like the way you have been utilized since becoming a part of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. You don’t like the fact that other players from your draft class like Nathan MacKinnon and Seth Jones were able to move straight to the main rosters of their new teams while you were sent back to the juniors to work on your game. It’s completely understandable.

At the same time, you are a professional athlete. You have to realize that people like Steve Yzerman have been doing this thing known as hockey for a very long time, and are quite skilled in developing new players into the superstars of tomorrow. If they think you need a little bit more time to work on your game, you probably need a little more time to work on your game.

Furthermore, whether you choose to be or not, as a professional athlete you are a role model to many young children out there who may one day want to follow in your footsteps and become a professional hockey player. Right now, you are setting one horrible example for those children. You are teaching them that when they don’t get what they want, they should just take their skates, go home, and quit.

We can’t speak for the rest of the Bolts Nation, but we know that we wouldn’t want our future children to follow in the footsteps of a player like Jonathan Drouin. We would want our children to know they have to work incredibly hard to achieve their goals and absolutely no one is going to give them something for free.

Jonathan Drouin still has an opportunity to be this person. All he has to do is bury his ego deep inside him and get back out on the ice and prove to the world that he deserves to be a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, he deserves to play in the NHL, and that he is worthy of being the superstar everyone initially believed him to be.

We think former Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman said better than we ever could.

Next: Has The Trade Marker Soured In Jonathan Drouin’s Absence?

What do you think about the whole Jonathan Drouin fiasco? Would you welcome him back to the Tampa Bay Lightning should he decide it’s time to get down to business? Do you think he has a better chance of receiving his trade request if he gets back out on the ice? Let us know what you think in the comments below.