Montreal Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin could miss Saturday’s game after missing a team game

Montreal Canadiens forward Jonathan Drouin could miss Saturday’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning after failing to show up for a team meeting, Canadiens head coach Martin St. Louis.

St. Louis called the situation « non-negotiable » and also said Drouin was not allowed to practice with the team on Friday. The Canadiens and Lightning are scheduled to play at 7 p.m. ET Saturday at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

Drouin, 27, had 26 points (one goal, 25 assists) in 46 games with the Canadiens this season. The five-foot-11 forward is currently riding a three-game point streak and has eight points in nine games so far in March.

Coincidentally, it was Tampa Bay that originally selected Drouin in the first round (3rd overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft, just after Nathan MacKinnon and Aleksander Barkov placed 1st and 2nd respectively.

Drouin spent three seasons with the Lightning before being traded to the Canadiens in 2017 in a deal that sent defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and a second-round pick to Tampa Bay.

While Sergachev won two Stanley Cups with the Lightning, Drouin’s tenure in Montreal has been relatively uneven. La Sainte-Agathe, Que. The product peaked at 53 points in 81 games in his second season with the Canadiens, but has missed plenty of time in the years since for a wide variety of reasons, including a time off from the club during his run to the finals. of the 2021 Stanley Cup.

Drouin is in the final season of the six-year, $5.5 million AAV contract he signed with the Canadiens when he arrived in 2017. He can become an unrestricted free agent in July.

In 473 career games spanning nine seasons with the Lightning and the Canadiens, Drouin has amassed 76 goals and 278 points. He added six goals and 21 points in 33 playoff games.