Report: Canadiens among 'handful of teams with serious interest' in Drouin
The Montreal Canadiens like Jonathan Drouin.
The disgruntled forward requested a trade from the Tampa Bay Lightning, the club that drafted him third overall in 2013, and is now playing in the AHL, where he has three points in six games.
The Habs are reportedly "one of (a) handful of teams with serious interest but it's near impossible to handicap (a) frontrunner/timeline," tweeted TSN's Bob McKenzie. "Only Steve Yzerman knows that."
MTL's Rick Dudley was in SYR on Saturday watching Drouin. Today at 3:05 pm ET, SYR and Drouin are playing the Rochester Americans.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) January 18, 2016
Related: Drouin rumors heating up with Blues, Ducks, Predators reportedly the contenders
Making things more attractive for Montreal has to be the fact Drouin is a French-Canadian, born in Sainte-Agathe, Quebec.
Prospect cupboard basically bare in terms of high end guys. Habs picked 25th, 26th and 26th last 3 drafts, no 2nd round pick in last two.
— Аrpon Basu (@ArponBasu) January 18, 2016
Drouin, who turns 21 on March 27, has six goals and 34 assists over 89 games in his young career.
The Canadiens are having issues scoring goals, and a spot in the playoffs, which looked to be a lock in October, is now in question. Montreal sits in the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot with 50 points. The Pittsburgh Penguins are only a point behind, and have two games in hand.
Whether the Canadiens land Drouin or not, the next six weeks will be very interesting in Montreal.