Jonathan Drouin is being welcomed back to the AHL's Syracuse Crunch, and will have to work hard to repair damage done upon walking away from the team back in January, both on and off the ice.

So says Crunch captain Mike Angelidis, who's appeared in only 14 NHL games with the Tampa Bay Lightning while largely plying his trade in the minors for the past decade.

"I think he's going to have to earn his respect from guys as well," Angelidis said Tuesday after practice, according to Lindsay Kramer of Syracuse.com. "It's not something (where) you just come back in. I think he's going to come in and work hard and that's how everything's going to be fine. He's going to have to come in and play, and he's going to play hard. He can't just come through and go through the motions."

For the time being, and despite recent circumstances, Angelidis is willing to give the 20-year-old the benefit of the doubt.

"I don't think he's got that kind of character. I think he's got a good head on his shoulders where he'll come in and work hard. If he comes in and doesn't work hard, then, obviously, there's entitlement there. But I don't think it's going to go that way. I think he realized the guys in the dressing room won't allow that to happen."

Drouin was last off the ice at Crunch practice and picked up some pucks on his way to the locker room, which, in the captain's eyes, was a good start on the road back to the NHL.

If anyone knows it doesn't come easy, it's Angelidis.

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