Jonathan Drouin grew up about a two-hour drive northwest of the Bell Centre - home of the Montreal Canadiens - in Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec, and the 22-year-old couldn't be more ecstatic he's heading home.
"His words to me when I told him he was traded was, 'This is my dream come true. This is my childhood dream,'" agent Allan Walsh said of Drouin, according to Chris Nichols of FanRag Sports.
Drouin infamously requested a trade out of Tampa Bay during the 2015-16 season. Though the two sides had appeared to patch things up, there's no question playing for his boyhood team was always at the top of his wishlist.
Montreal fans are likely just as excited. The Canadiens haven't had a francophone player of this stature since goaltender Jose Theodore in the early-to-mid-2000s. Before that brief stint of greatness, you'd have to look back to when Vincent Damphousse and Patrick Roy anchored the Habs back in the '90s.
Expectations will certainly be high for the former third overall pick, but, if he performs up to par, there's no doubt he'll be beloved by one of the NHL's most passionate fan bases.
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