[News] Upd: Drouin decides to sit out until trade is completed. Lightning suspend him

[sureLoss]

Thomas R. Fernandez @trfernandezNHL
Yzerman: does it hurt it, I guess time will tell. We are actively trying to find a deal. It doesn't put added pressure on me to make a deal

[Flash Walken]

Some great spin from Stevie Y.

I can't imagine the offers for Drouin are getting better than they were a couple of months or weeks ago when Anaheim seemingly left the talks because things were too rich.

Keep clutching that diminishing asset, Stevie, all that matters is winning the moral argument!

[Hackey]

I'd figure this has to hurt Drouin's value a bit. Not only are there questions about whether or not he can cut it in the NHL but obviously character question marks as well. How much does a team want to pay for that risk? Doesn't really seem worth it unless you're getting a solid deal or you feel really confident he will turn things around. Not exactly sure how you would be confident of that though.

[sureLoss]

Joe Smith @TBTimes_JSmith
Yzerman was very direct about situation. Said when trade request made public, it "changed everything" #TBLightning

Erik Erlendsson @erlendssonTBO
Yzerman not ready to say he's severed ties with Drouin, keeps the door open, but intent is to "actively and agressively'' pursue a trade

Joe Smith @TBTimes_JSmith
#TBLightning Yzerman said he'll leave door open on salvaging things, but focus is working out a deal w Drouin. No timetable for trade

[Poe969]

I still think this takes some of the advantage away from Stevey Y. He doesn't really have to make a trade but with the Atlantic being so close there are 4 teams within 4 points of them. I think he should do what it takes to make his team better asap.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Michelle Gingras @michellegingras
Yzerman said when Walsh went public with trade demand, everything changed as far as a timeline for Drouin's return.

"When they went public with the trade demand, I decided to punish them for making it public by delaying a trade."

[CaptainCrunch]

That's one thing with Yzerman, he won't do a panic move just to move the player.

As much as I believe he won't get what a lot of people are thinking that he's going to get, he'll even try to squeeze a bad return.

JD could be sitting for a long while.

I think the kid made a huge tactical mistake sitting that game out. It was a slow night in the NHL and a lot of scouts were going to that AHL game to watch him play.

I would be wondering if he and his agent knew that the kid hasn't been all that good didn't want the scouts to watch him play. Better to trade him based on his draft position then anything else.

[corporatejay]

Good for Drouin. I'd take that dude in a heartbeat and we should move anyone not named Bennett, Monahan, Gaudreau, Gio and Brodie to do it.

EDIT:

TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT HAMILTON, AND HAMILTON.

[SofaProfessor]

Did Tampa just completely kill any leverage they had in this trade?

If you take their side as gospel then this is an entitled kid who won't listen to anything the team has to say. Who wants to trade for that? If you genuinely think you might be close to a trade then I would be spinning the story of Drouin not playing as a misunderstanding or a desire to ensure he's healthy when the trade is finalized. The way this is shaking down pretty much just shoved Drouin onto the clearance rack.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

If I was Steve Yzerman and I felt that all I could get was low ball offers because of what has transpired, I would just wait it out. If all you're going to get is junk, why not wait until a later date to get said junk? I would stick it to this kid and trade him near the TDL in 2017.

[sureLoss]

Interesting that Cooper is admitting some responsibility for the situation

Bryan Burns @BBurnsNHL
Cooper on the Drouin dilemma: "In a situation like this, everybody's got to accept a little responsibility, myself included." #TBLightning

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

If your coach is going to cost you both your franchise star player and your hotshot young prospect, then you fire the coach. In that regard, this is on Yzerman.

I think I've brought this up before, but to understand Yzerman you need to understand his history.

In 92-93, Yzerman had 137 points, and the Wings lost in the second round. By that point, Yzerman was 27 years old, had over 1,000 points in the NHL, and had never made it to the Finals.

The Wings brought in Scotty Bowman, one of the most hard-ass men to ever coach in the NHL. Yzerman didn't buy what the new coach was selling. Did the Wings get rid of Bowman? Nope. They put their biggest star on the trading block. Eventually Yzerman realized that winning was the most important thing, and came around to Bowman's way of thinking.

In the lockout-shortened 94-95 season, Yzerman was shunted to the second line behind a younger centre (sound familiar?), and got 38 points (pro-rated to 66 points in a full season). That's a 71 point drop from his total the season before Bowman took over. For the first time in Yzerman's career, the Wings played in the Finals. Yzerman never scored more than 100 points again, but he went on to win 3 Cups with the Wings.

The Wings remain one of the flagship franchises in the league with a top-down, team-first approach to the game. Why wouldn't Yzerman model Tampa off that approach? He must think If I could change my game, do what my coach said, and do what's best for the team when I was one of the superstars in the league, then anyone can.

[Poe969]

I think if Stevey Y holds on to Drouin and doesn't trade him it might send the wrong message to players out there. It's like a breakup and Stevey Y just doesn't want to let things go. Things aren't working out with Drouin but not letting him go is just bad. I don't think Stamkos signs there and I doubt they'll attract many other young stars there.

[Split98]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

Interesting that Cooper is admitting some responsibility for the situation

Bryan Burns @BBurnsNHL
Cooper on the Drouin dilemma: "In a situation like this, everybody's got to accept a little responsibility, myself included." #TBLightning

As SofaProfessor pointed out, Yzerman should have been doing this as well. Painting Drouin as a whiny spoiled brat (who lies as well, apparently) isn't great for increasing trade value.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

It depends much on the strength of other offers and the urgency to move the player. At this point, I would be surprised if Yzerman is entertaining offers for much more than this.

Oh, I'm sure several teams are trying to low ball the hell out of Yzerman. That no trade has happened indicates how well received such low ball offers have been. Yzerman may have to settle for a poorer offer in the end, but Druin throwing a hissy fit in Toronto likely isn't going to cause Yzerman to just take what he can get at this point.

Originally Posted by Flash Walken

"When they went public with the trade demand, I decided to punish them for making it public by delaying a trade."

Given Drouin decided to punish the Lightning by his actions, this seems to be a tit for tat scenario at worst.

[Poe969]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I think I've brought this up before, but to understand Yzerman you need to understand his history.

In 92-93, Yzerman had 137 points, and the Wings lost in the second round. By that point, Yzerman was 27 years old, had over 1,000 points in the NHL, and had never made it to the Finals.

The Wings brought in Scotty Bowman, one of the most hard-ass men to ever coach in the NHL. Yzerman didn't buy what the new coach was selling. Did the Wings get rid of Bowman? Nope. They put their biggest star on the trading block. And eventually Yzerman realized that winning was the most important thing, and came around to Bowman's way of thinking.

In the lockout-shortened 94-95 season, Yzerman got 38 points (pro-rated to 66 points in a full season). That's a 71 point drop from his total the season before Bowman took over. And the Wings went to the Finals. Yzerman never scored more than 100 points again, and the Wings won 3 Cups.

The Wings remain one of the flagship franchises in the league with a top-down, team-first approach to the game. Why wouldn't Yzerman model Tampa off that model? He must think If I could change my game, do what my coach said, and do what's best for the team when I was one of the superstars in the league, then anyone can.

Then Stevey Y should be coaching. It's not the GM's job to be a hard ass on his players, the longer this goes on, the worst it looks on Tampa IMO.

[Lanny'sDaMan]

Joe Smith ‏@TBTimes_JSmith 2m2 minutes ago
When asked if it's the agent or Drouin driving this, Yzerman said Walsh has always told him he's representing Drouin + following his wishes

[corporatejay]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

I think I've brought this up before, but to understand Yzerman you need to understand his history.

In 92-93, Yzerman had 137 points, and the Wings lost in the second round. By that point, Yzerman was 27 years old, had over 1,000 points in the NHL, and had never made it to the Finals.

The Wings brought in Scotty Bowman, one of the most hard-ass men to ever coach in the NHL. Yzerman didn't buy what the new coach was selling. Did the Wings get rid of Bowman? Nope. They put their biggest star on the trading block. And eventually Yzerman realized that winning was the most important thing, and came around to Bowman's way of thinking.

In the lockout-shortened 94-95 season, Yzerman got 38 points (pro-rated to 66 points in a full season). That's a 71 point drop from his total the season before Bowman took over. And the Wings went to the Finals. Yzerman never scored more than 100 points again, and the Wings won 3 Cups.

The Wings remain one of the flagship franchises in the league with a top-down, team-first approach to the game. Why wouldn't Yzerman model Tampa off that model? He must think If I could change my game, do what my coach said, and do what's best for the team when I was one of the superstars in the league, then anyone can.

I understand his perspective, but not everyone is Steve Yzerman either. I mean everyone wants a guy like that, Monahan for example, but some people are just wired differently and it's incumbent on the GM or Coach to manage that.

Also, Bowman is the greatest coach in NHL history, probably got him a lot of street cred

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

One thing this thread has taught me is that I don't understand what 'franchise player' means anymore.

I don't think terms like that have fixed definitions anyway... I've always thought of it as the sort of guy who is an elite level player, who you make sure is tied up long-term until he's well past his prime at least, and who immediately comes to mind when you think of a particular team.

So, this generation, Ovechkin obviously, Jamie Benn probably, PK Subban, Erik Karlsson, Claude Giroux, etc. Lots of teams just don't have a guy, even good teams. No one is clearly "that guy" for the Kings, in my view. Johnny could end up being that guy for the Flames in two or three years.

Drouin almost certainly never will, but that doesn't mean he can't be a top line player. This is a weird situation because I can't imagine a way a player could more completely sewer his trade value without getting into a fight in the locker room. So whoever gets him likely gets him well below what his actual talent and potential should command, and yet, that is so freakin' obvious - the fact that you'll get good value in this fire sale - that there should be a lot of interested parties, thereby driving the price up again to some extent.

At this stage I have no idea what he ends up getting dealt for.

Yzerman never scored more than 100 points again, but he went on to win 3 Cups with the Wings.

Not to mention he became the best two-way center in the league.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Split98

As SofaProfessor pointed out, Yzerman should have been doing this as well. Painting Drouin as a whiny spoiled brat (who lies as well, apparently) isn't great for increasing trade value.

Drouin is a whiny spoiled brat. He pulled the same garbage at the start of his QMJHL career.