29 other teams would be lining up to offer the same. How do you differentiate your offer from all the others?
I think the statement that Yzerman would want to trade him to the West is a valid one, so we could start there.
Leaves us with 14 suitors.
The initial appeal of the deal is Drouin is on an ELC (900K). Tampa can't afford to take on much salary, they're currently 2.1M from the cap, meaning anything they took back in return couldn't exceed 3M. I'd also doubt that Tampa would want to be that tight to the cap, so you have to assume that they are either taking a prospect of similar value back in return, draft picks, or moving out one of their more bloated contracts in the process to allow a roster player from another team to make the deal possible.
So, assuming they want a roster player, which contract would they want to move out? Looking at Mattias Ohlund, he hasn't played since 2011. His 3.6M per year contract on IR finally expires next season. Maybe taking on the last year and a half of that anchor is something a team could offer to sweeten the pot?
Ben Bishop makes 6M a year until the end of next season. Braydon Coburn (UFA) is making 4.5M. But I'm not convinced Tampa wants to lose either of them right before they make another push for the Cup this year.
Having said all that, most of the 13 other teams in the West can use the same line of thinking, so at the end of the day, your offer still needs to be stronger than theirs.
So, theoretically, what if Calgary were to offer the following...
Jiri Hudler (UFA, 4M @ 50% salary retained)
Morgan Klimchuk (860K)
Emile Poirier (860K)
2016 2nd round pick
for
Jonathan Drouin (900K)
Mattias Ohlund (3.6M)
Would that be enough? Would that beat whatever the other Western teams would offer? The numbers would certainly work for both teams current cap structures.
Tampa takes on 3.72M, while clearing 4.5M, a net gain for them, providing additional cap space. They get a roster player for this season's run, two former 1st round prospects and an additional draft selection in this year's entry draft.
Calgary takes on a bad contract and gets a former 1st round prospect. Important to note that all of these prospects have struggled to stick on an NHL roster, but Drouin would certainly have the highest potential ceiling.
Alright, begin the assault on the horribleness of my proposal.
