First, No. 27 for the Halifax Mooseheads — standing nearly 200 feet from the opposing net —kicks the puck up to his stick, then skates it out of the defensive zone to start the power-play attack. Just as he crosses the Titan blue line, he takes a return feed from Stefan Fournier, pivots toward the right faceoff circle and feathers a short pass for Konrad Abeltshauser to one-time.

Acadie-Bathurst jump on the rebound, but fail to clear the zone. Another shot is kicked out by goalie Jacob Brennan to the right side, where Drouin collects it about eight feet from the half-wall. When Christophe Lalancette approaches, Drouin draws the puck toward his feet, jukes right, left, then right again and darts toward the net. After eluding defenceman Anthony Gingras, Drouin wires a forehand over the net on Brennan’s blocker side. The puck ricochets in the air and before it lands near the far boards, Drouin tracks it like a Gold Glove centre-fielder. With Lalancette in pursuit again, Drouin corrals the puck and slams on the brakes to throw a little space-creating hip check that knocks the Titan centre off-kilter. With a crack of daylight opened, Drouin spins to his forehand, drives the net and makes one more cut to his left. His last act is slipping a pass to Fournier, who easily taps the puck into the cage.

Whether you want to make a .GIF or get out your guitar, just know more material will be arriving soon. “We probably saw that 50 times,” Mooseheads GM Cam Russell says of Drouin’s man-on-fire shifts.

When the Montreal Canadiens and Tampa Bay Lightning hooked up for one of the off-season’s biggest trades — a one-for-one swap that sent Drouin north and drool-inducing defence prospect Mikhail Sergachev the other way — everybody knew the Habs were getting a 22-year-old with all kinds of raw ability. A true rink rat who often had to be ordered out of the arena as a teenager, Drouin faced his share of doubt and disappointment on the road to becoming an impact NHLer. The journey, somewhat infamously, took a little longer than Drouin would have preferred, but anyone who questions his commitment should share a beverage with the people he suited up for and beside on his way to The Show. Now, everything he went through should help him handle the preposterous expectations that go with being the Canadiens’ first Francophone scoring star in 20 years.