Drouin turned professional with the
Houston Apollos of the
Central Hockey League (CHL), scoring 68 points in 60 games, and earning his first NHL playing time with the Canadiens in the
1968–69 season. The
1969–70 season found Drouin in the minors again, this time for the powerhouse
Nova Scotia Voyageurs, where he dominated with 106 points in 65 games, winning the
Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award for rookie of the year and leading the
American Hockey League (AHL) in scoring. With no place for him in the powerful Montreal lineup, Drouin was traded to the
Minnesota North Stars for the
1970–71 season, and he became one of the team's early stars, scoring 68 points and adding 12 points in 12 games in the playoffs. Drouin was a mainstay of the North Stars for four and a half seasons in all, his best season coming in
1972–73, when he scored career highs of 27 goals and 73 points. His production fell thereafter, and he was traded in
mid-season in 1975 to the
New York Islanders. The trade rejuvenated Drouin, and he was an effective two-way player for three seasons with the up-and-coming Islanders. Drouin's production sharply dropped in the
1977–78 season, and disgruntled with his declining role with the Islanders, he sat out the following season in order to become a free agent. He signed with the
Winnipeg Jets thereafter, but retired early in the
1980–81 season. ==Career statistics==