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Early this season, I noted that, in Jonathan Drouin, the Canadiens might have found their coveted No. 1 centre. The sample size was limited but, by early November, Drouin was showing improvements in every offensive category. If he could manage to sustain that pace, he was heading toward a very successful season.

However, he hasn’t maintained that pace. In fact, he has experienced a major regression in goals, primary assists, shot control and other metrics since November (see charts below).

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As you can see, he’s in a downward spiral when it comes to creating offence and he’s essentially back to his 2016-17 offensive pace. Not only is he creating less, but during his shifts the Canadiens aren’t controlling the play, as his sub-50 per cent shot attempt control rate shows.

If we compare Drouin’s numbers with Alex Galchenyuk‘s season as a 22-year old, we see a lot of similarities.

Drouin is scoring more goals, however Galchenyuk produced more points. There’s an uptick in shot production during Drouin’s shifts, yet the Canadiens are also allowing significantly more shots on net. Relative to their teammates they’re both negatives in terms of possession, and they both benefited from relatively heavy offensive zone starts (OZS%).