Tampa Bay Lightning Shouldn't Wait To Trade Jonathan Drouin

The Jonathan Drouin situation with the Tampa Bay Lightning continues to get worse, and it has become obvious that they have to trade him as soon as possible. Apparently Drouin had requested a trade earlier in the season, upset over a lack of ice-time. Tensions seemed to grow to the point that his agent went public with his client’s request to be traded. Drouin was sent down to Tampa Bay’s AHL affiliate as a conditioning stint after coming back from injury. He then didn’t attend an AHL game on the advice from his agent that a trade was happening shortly and it was important to not risk getting injured. No trade happened and Tampa Bay responded by suspending Drouin indefinitely without pay.

Now that’s a very brief summary of what’s happened, but there are a few other factors that have contributed to this mess. Tampa Bay likes to take it slow with developing young talent and not rushing them into the NHL. Drouin is a highly touted player as the No. 3 overall pick in the 2013 NHL Draft and doesn’t want to wait to play in the NHL. His impatient attitude doesn’t seem to impress general manager Steve Yzerman or head coach Jon Cooper very much, which could be the reason for the lack of ice-time and the reason for being sent to the AHL.

Drouin had a good first season in the NHL last year with 32 points in 70 games and currently has eight points in 19 games this season. The fact that Drouin requested a trade as a 20-year-old on an entry level contract is new territory for the NHL. He has no leverage in this situation. Tampa Bay owns his rights until he becomes an unrestricted free agent, and Drouin has only played one full season in the league. Notching 32 points in 70 games isn’t bad for a debut to the NHL, but that’s not enough to pull anything like this and request a trade — it’s unheard of.

Some players are NHL-ready straight out of the draft and others take time to develop their game to the point of being able to compete at the NHL level. Some teams like to take it slow and not rush players, so that means playing in the AHL for a few seasons. Drouin may have a valid point about being ready for the NHL, but it’s still up to Tampa Bay to decide.

The real problem is that ever since Drouin’s agent went public with the trade request it’s meant that Tampa Bay won’t get fair value in return. Other teams know Drouin wants to leave and that it’s in Tampa Bay’s best interest to trade a player who doesn’t want to play for them. So that means that other teams will give low offers for Drouin since they know Yzerman is under pressure to make a trade.

Yzerman can’t expect to get fair return anymore and should just make the best trade possible, because the longer he waits to trade Drouin the less he will get in return. Right now Drouin isn’t even playing since the team suspended him for not showing up to an AHL game. The best deal Tampa Bay can make is to trade Drouin now and just be done with the whole situation. Maybe they will get lucky and score a good return.