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

[Fan in Exile]

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. 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.

Jon Cooper is not Scotty Bowman. I think most of us would credit the pool of talented players for the success of the Lightning rather than the system employed by the coach. This situation doesn't reflect well on the organization, no matter how it's spun.

Having said all that, the Jets did awfully well with the Evander Kane trade despite the fact that they appeared to have no leverage. I think Yzerman will be able to get fair value from Drouin from some team. Not a short list of suitors in this one. I'm sure there is still plenty of interest.

[Jordan!]

Who does this guy think he is?

[Flames Draft Watcher]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

The Oilers website had a post on the draft because they were making their highest draft in a decade:
http://oilers.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=429906

Funny thing is Voracek was available at #6 and the Oilers passed on him for Samwise Gamgee. Oilers gonna Oil.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Split98

Unless this trade is for parts Calgary is better without, I want them far away from this guy.

Could he go full Seguin? Sure. Are the comparisons to Yashin more likely at this point? Absolutely.

Unless Calgary is willing to dump him if his attitude and effort doesn't change with new scenery, I really hope he's not coming here.

Yashin? Are you misremembering or do you not think 79 points as a rookie of multiple >1 P/gm seasons as good?

[burn_this_city]

Originally Posted by Bouw N Arrow

Who does this guy think he is?

A superstar being held back by the big bad GM.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by SofaProfessor

With the way this has been handled I'm not sure Drouin goes for anything other than "ridiculously cheap."

I'd take him on the Flames if the price was right. Like you said, if he doesn't cost a ton to acquire, they can throw him out the door the moment he steps out of line.

Let's remember; the truth often sits somewhere between the two stories you hear. We have the Lightning's explanation of events and Drouin's. I don't doubt for a moment this kid might be a bit entitled. I'm also hesitant to believe he's a complete lost cause. Right now his price is lower than it was yesterday morning. Can't hurt to kick the tires and see if something comes of it that benefits the Flames.

I completely agree. But my concerns with Drouin as a hockey player have less to do with how he has handled this, and much more to do with how he has played in his professional career to this point. His 0.5 points/game average for a 19-year-old in the 2014–15 season looks very good, but some of the tarnish comes off of that given that he played most of his time with Stamkos. The fact that he has presently scored only two goals in seven games in his AHL assignment since being sent down is also a bit of a concern.

He is still young—only 21-years-old in a few weeks, but for a player with his skill set, and with the opportunities he has been given thus far, I would have expected more.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by longsuffering

I think by waiting Yzerman would receive better offers then than he is likely to receive now.

Completely disagree.

Drouin with a half season of lost time is not going to make him garner a better return. A lot of the things that grease transactions either don't apply here or actively work against the Lightning.

The sooner Drouin gets moved the better it is for all parties.

[northcrunk]

I don't think this is the first case where this will happen in the NHL just because of the mindsets of the newer generation of players vs. management who have more of an old school approach.

The case in Tampa seems to be cause by Cooper and Yzerman. If it was one player sure you could make the case for one player being a diva and causing a stir but it's not only a young rookie there seems to be friction with their 'superstar' as well.

I've heard that Yzerman is a old school "my way or the highway" manager and that might rub these young guys the wrong way considering they have been put on a pedestal their whole playing careers.

I feel like Treliving has a more modern approach to dealing with players which is why we haven't had these kinds of hold outs with our young players (minues baertschi but we did flip him before the request came out).

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Parallex

Completely disagree.

Drouin with a half season of lost time is not going to make him garner a better return. A lot of the things that grease transactions either don't apply here or actively work against the Lightning.

The sooner Drouin gets moved the better it is for all parties.

I agree with you that trading him the off-season is not going to get a better return, but I disagree that the sooner Drouin gets moved the better it is for all parties involved. The only party that benefits in my mind is Drouin. I think Drouin's value is as low now as it would be in the off-season. Sitting him would be a good message to future TB prospects that you are going to toe the company line or pay for it.

[Split98]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

Yashin? Are you misremembering or do you not think 79 points as a rookie of multiple >1 P/gm seasons as good?

Edit: I meant Alexandre Daigle! Whoops!

[Poe969]

Drouin to the oilers for Kleffbomb or Nurse would be amazing. The oilers should deal from their D for some more skill up front.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Parallex

Completely disagree.

Drouin with a half season of lost time is not going to make him garner a better return. A lot of the things that grease transactions either don't apply here or actively work against the Lightning.

The sooner Drouin gets moved the better it is for all parties.

What if all that's on the table for Yzerman now is junk? If that's the case, how does it benefit him to give Drouin what he wants? How much of a distraction could one suspended, petulant little child really be to the players on the Tampa Bay Lightning at this point?

[SuperMatt18]

Only way waiting gets a better return is if a team gets desperate.

If Anaheim, or Montreal miss the playoffs do they overpay in the offseason?

If St.Louis has another first round playoff bust do they then make the move.

Lots of things could happen that cause a team to overpay, it is risky to wait longer but if the offers now aren't any good anyways then it's not really a risk.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Poe969

I didn't miss that part at all. So he didn't like the coach's style and the team put him on the block...It's a completely different situation this time. The team didn't hang Yzerman out to dry as a player and make him out to be a brat. As Resolute pointed out, you can't treat every player the same and expect everyone to be like him.

If things weren't working out and the team put him on the block, it'd be different, by treating the kid the way they are they're looking like the bad guys IMO.

Umm, no. Yzerman didn't make Drouin out to be a brat. Drouin did that all by himself by going public with the trade demand. And I think you are one of very, very few who is siding with the player on this one. (For clarification, I think Yzerman is fumbling badly himself, but he is not the architect of Drouin's public perception.)

Compare this to the Sven Baertschi situation. Sven was just as unhappy, Sven wanted out just as much, and Sven was already known to have some attitude issues. But he kept his problems out of the media. And he went down to the AHL and played until the team was able to accommodate his wish.

So Drouin is coming off looking worse than a player who most of us knew had entitlement issues. That takes some doing.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by SuperMatt18

Other thing that happens too is who knows if a team gets desperate.

If Anaheim, or Montreal miss the playoffs do they overpay in the offseason?

If St.Louis has another first round playoff bust do they then make the move.

Lots of things could happen that cause a team to overpay, it is risky to wait longer but if the offers now aren't any good anyways then it's not really a risk.

Those seem most likely; perhaps adding Minny to the mix.
Tampa can wait if the offers are poor. They are playing well and he never was in the mix there. Stamkos, on the other hand...

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

Those seem most likely; perhaps adding Minny to the mix.
Tampa can wait if the offers are poor. They are playing well and he never was in the mix there. Stamkos, on the other hand...

It's looking more and more likely that Stamkos walks and TB gets nothing. They aren't going to trade him if they think they will be in the playoffs. The lost potential assets they would receive in a trade is essentially the same as them 'renting' Stamkos for a playoff run.

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Umm, no. Yzerman didn't make Drouin out to be a brat. Drouin did that all by himself by going public with the trade demand. And I think you are one of very, very few who is siding with the player on this one. (For clarification, I think Yzerman is fumbling badly himself, but he is not the architect of Drouin's public perception.)

Compare this to the Sven Baertschi situation. Sven was just as unhappy, Sven wanted out just as much, and Sven was already known to have some attitude issues. But he kept his problems out of the media. And he went down to the AHL and played until the team was able to accommodate his wish.

So Drouin is coming off looking worse than a player who most of us knew had entitlement issues. That takes some doing.

If Treliving didn't move Baertschi asap he would have gone public. I think this has been simmering as there were rumors he asked for a trade last year.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by TheAlpineOracle

but I disagree that the sooner Drouin gets moved the better it is for all parties involved. The only party that benefits in my mind is Drouin.

Untrue.

Trading him now returns something for the Lightning now while they're in the playoff hunt, Drouin with a half season of development time (that he would otherwise lose) is worth more then the alternative, a cap strapped team will prize his cheap contract more now then in the off-season when they have contracts coming off the books and added flexibility.

Forcing Drouin to sit out the rest of the season as some exercise in "message sending" is just cutting off your nose to spite your face. Nobody is better served by it not Drouin, not the Lightning, not any potential trade partners.

[SuperMatt18]

Yeah the only reason Drouin is being labelled as a brat, is because he is being a brat.

Didn't like the coach, or didn't think he was getting the shot he deserved, so he privately demanded a trade: that's fine.

Taking that trade demand public once you get sent down: that is acting like a brat.

Refusing to play once you don't get traded fast enough: that is acting like an absolute idiot.

If Drouin's public perception is ruined it is all his own doing.

[Flash Walken]

I think Drouin is showing a lot more character by standing up for himself than if just played the quiet obedient game while he watched millions of dollars drain of his career earnings.

Good for him, he has value and he knows it.