Tampa Bay Lightning F Jonathan Drouin Addresses The Media (Video)

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin spoke to the media this morning after having his suspension lifted and making his return to practice with the Syracuse Crunch.

The moment many people here in the Bolts Nation have been waiting for since the beginning of the year has finally arrived. It seems as if the Tampa Bay Lightning and formerly estranged forward Jonathan Drouin have come to some sort of understanding and Drouin is finally ready to make his return to the ice.

As most of you know by now, yesterday, Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced the team had officially lifted the indefinite suspension of Jonathan Drouin and the young Canadian forward was prepared to return to practice with the Syracuse Crunch and continue to fulfill the terms of his entry-level contract with the team.

This morning, Jonathan Drouin took some time out of his day to speak with the media in Syracuse as the team prepares to take on the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the War Memorial Arena in Syracuse on Friday night. Surprisingly enough, the Jonathan Drouin we saw in front of the camera this morning is almost the exact opposite of the player we saw just a few months ago as he made his first trip to Syracuse.

It seems at this point that Jonathan Drouin has had a change of heart and decided that he wants to get back to doing what he loves most, playing the wonderful game of hockey. While Drouin was not specific on whether or not he still desired to be traded from the team, he did say the conversation could wait until the summer.

"“I’m a hockey player, and I want to play hockey.” Drouin said. “Sitting at home is not what I want to do. I want to play hockey, help the Crunch, and we’ll deal with that stuff when the summer comes.”"

Now, we find ourselves at the precipice of the question of the hour. Does Jonathan Drouin feel his relationship with the Tampa Bay Lightning is salvageable or did he still ultimately wish to be traded to another team? Drouin did not rule out the possibility of a trade when the summer comes along; however, he feels his relationship with the Tampa Bay Lightning is just fine.

"“I think our relationship is fine,” Drouin said. “We’ve made the decision to come back here and like I said, we’re going to fix this in the summer and see how it goes from there.”"

We would be lying to you if we told you we didn’t have some sort of preconceived notions about Jonathan Drouin; especially after everything that has taken place since his original assignment to the Syracuse Crunch back in January, but judging by what we have seen today, Drouin really seems to want to get back to business and make things right; whether it be with the Tampa Bay Lightning or eventually another organization.

As most of you know, this is essentially a complete 180-degree turn from the statement released by Jonathan Drouin’s agent Allan Walsh in the wake of his suspension.

There is one thing Drouin said during his press conference that really stood out for us. Drouin seems to be really prepared to take responsibility for his actions and do what it takes to get back on the right path.

"“It’s going to be up to me to put in the work,” Drouin said. “I’m not just going to get called up to get called up. I’ll have to put in the work here [in Syracuse] and that’s what I plan to do.”"

There is always the possibility that Jonathan Drouin is simply saying what everyone wants to hear in order to sway the public’s view of him and his actions over the course of the last few months in a different light. At the same time, he may be very genuine in his statement and he really intends on doing what needs to be done in order to make his way back to the National Hockey League as quickly as possible.

Right now, the Bolts Nation is rather torn on the subject. We ran a poll early last week on whether or not fans here in the Bolts Nation would accept Jonathan Drouin back on the team should he decide it’s time to get down to business. About 58% of you were against the idea in one form or another, leaving around 43% of you who would be willing to give Drouin another chance.

At the time, it seemed as if it was a shot in the dark this situation would ever come to pass, but here we are. As we said before, the Jonathan Drouin we saw today is a complete 180 from the Drouin we saw just a few short months ago. While words are always nice to hear, the true test of his character will come with his actions. If Jonathan Drouin really does put in the work, may the relationship can actually be healed.

It’s going to take a lot of work to change the minds, not only of those on the coaching staff and in the back office, but the fans here in the Bolts Nation as well. Once again, the puck is in Drouin’s zone. It’s up to him where he scores a goal or winds up in the penalty box once again.

Next: Jonathan Drouin Needs To Check His Ego At The Door

What do you think about Jonathan Drouin’s recent change of heart? Do you believe he is really ready to put in the work to make his way back to the main roster? What do you think was the catalyst for his recent change of heart? Let us know what you think in the comments below.