Jonathan Drouin has not lived up to his expectations entering the season.

Before the season started, the Montreal Canadiens seemed like almost a lock for the playoffs. Combined with playing in one of the weakest divisions in the NHL, the Canadiens possessed arguably the best goalie in the league in Carey Price. And yet, through 50+ games the Canadiens have fallen to be one of the worst clubs, outside the playoff picture by a huge margin and unlikely to turn it around. And for fantasy owners who drafted some of the more high-profile names on the club, they have been mostly disappointed with the results. Especially with Jonathan Drouin, as the Canadiens’ big name acquisition has failed to lead the team and the poolies who drafted him to fantasy success.

After being traded to Montreal over the offseason for high-profile prospect Mikael Sergevchev, many predicted Jonathan Drouin to have an excellent season with the Canadiens. Drafted third overall by the Lightning in 2013, Drouin was blessed with loads of offensive potential. And though Tampa brought him up slowly though the minors, he had no problem making an offensive impact in the NHL. After scoring 14 points in 17 playoff games in 2016, Drouin was promoted fulltime to the NHL and put on an excellent season, tallying 53 points in only 73 games. As he was on pace to score 60 points as a mere 21-year-old forward, big things were in store for Drouin, as it looked like he would only continue to get better. And after a big contract extension that indicated Drouin was expected to play a huge part in the Canadiens’ offense, things looked very promising for those expecting an even bigger breakout.

However, things haven’t gone as people had hoped, with Drouin only accumulating seven goals and 19 assists through 47 games so far. Despite being drafted on average 74^th overall in Fantrax leagues, Drouin has severely disappointed (using an average fantasy hockey league measuring G, A, SOG, PPP, HITS).
 

Out of all skaters, Drouin has only provided the 171^st most value, behind T.J. Brodie and Josh Morrissey and right in front of Brenden Dillon and Cody Ceci. Everything about Drouin this season just screams average, as his point totals, shots, power-play points, and hits are all very dull. Though he was on pace to hit 60 points last year, he’s only been scoring at a 46-point pace this season, with only seven goals to his name. His 108 shots and 12 power-play points won’t kill you, but they are only the 146^th and 71^st most in the league respectively. And it’s hard to make up that value when Drouin has never been that much of a hitter; the most he’s ever had in one season was 56 back in his 2014-15 season. This year he’s actually on pace to finish with the most hits he’s ever recorded, but it’s still not good enough to pull himself back into fantasy relevance.

While it wouldn’t be a surprise to many to see Drouin start scoring more, his first half of the season has been rough for the poolies who drafted him early with high hopes. Montreal’s been a bad team for fantasy hockey and Drouin is no different, providing little value to fantasy owners through his first 50 games as a Canadien.