The Case for Drouin II

By Mark Pukalo

Those who traveled to Brandon Ice Sports Forum for the first practice of training camp in 2015 may have thought they were finally witnessing the true start of the Jonathan Drouin era with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

There was the former Halifax Moosehead and third-overall pick in the 2013 draft skating on the left side of captain Steven Stamkos with veteran banger Ryan Callahan on the right in the opening drills.

Little did we know, less than two years later despite a strong 2015-16 postseason performance and a solid 2016-17 campaign (21 goals, 53 points) filled with highlight-reel plays, he would be traded to Atlantic Division-rival Montreal. The road to that result was filled with drama.

Drouin was the only one of the top six picks in 2013 to be sent back to juniors. It was different, but the decision had merit with the Lightning's situation at the time.

His rookie year in the NHL showed some promise as he was near the top of the league in assists per minute while mostly playing on the fourth line and getting very little power-play time. However, that season ended with him sitting out all but six playoff games. He was even demoted to the black aces at one point with other unproven and unproductive players put ahead of him. The easy question after that campaign was why didn’t he play more during the regular season when the Bolts were rolling toward the playoffs - especially on the power play - to prepare him for a more prominent postseason role?

But all that seemed to be part of the past as he began the 2015-16 season on one of the top two lines and posted six points in the first five games with Stamkos and Callahan - also seemingly screwed out of an assist in Buffalo when his strong forecheck helped set up a tally for the trio. At some point after that fast start, coach Jon Cooper seemed to lose interest in the development of the trio after a few somewhat unproductive games. It wasn’t strange for Cooper, who changes lines like socks.

From there, Drouin could never find a prominent place in the top-six consistently for Cooper. He was injured, came back and had two brilliant games in Anaheim and Los Angeles, then was hurt again. When he came back he played sparingly against the New York Rangers and the decision was made to send him down to the minors to get some playing time. It seemed logical at the time - go down and play a few games to get back up to speed after the injuries. But it wasn’t really stated that way. The Lightning had a glut of healthy forwards and there was no telling when he would return. He had seemingly lost his spot for no good reason.

There wasn’t a place for a player who started the season with six points (should have been seven) in five games?

Every other player picked in the top six of the 2013 draft was placed in the lineup immediately, allowed to learn from their mistakes and grow with minutes, except for Drouin. Nathan MacKinnon (1), Sasha Barkov (2), Seth Jones (4), Elias Lindholm (5), Sean Monahan (6) all had things to learn and they progressed. Only Lindholm is not All-Star caliber now, but he has slowly improved.

This was a special talent. The team needed Drouin. They needed him to push forward his development and help a failing power play. They needed him in Tampa Bay after a few practice games.

Then, all hell broke loose. Drouin decided to make his trade request public and, after a deal did not happen quickly, he left Syracuse. He made a very poor decision. He was 20. My bet is he was getting really bad advice and he went with it. Perhaps those convincing him to walk away wanted him to out of Tampa Bay and closer to home. Funny how that eventually happened.

Drouin has no excuses for leaving the team. I said so at the time. I say so now. But he came back before the end of the season and seemed to mend fences. Drouin was outstanding in the 2015-16 playoffs, on both ends of the ice. He was hitting, playing gritty defense, making simple plays when needed and putting up points (14 in 17 games) while igniting the power play.

Surely, this would be the start of the Drouin era in Tampa. All seemed forgiven from the fans as the 2016-17 season began. Drouin sweaters were everywhere. But there were times during the first half of last season when he still didn’t get consistent playing time with top players. You wondered at the time if he would have even played much with Stamkos if the captain wasn’t injured. While the trio of Drouin, Brian Boyle and Val Filppula had a little success for a period of time, it was basically a third line. Drouin even played on a pseudo third line with Cedric Paquette and Joel Vermin for a few games and set up a pair of goals in St. Louis.

Was Drouin perfect? Absolutely not. He was 21 until late March. He is still developing, learning. There needed to be more production at even strength and Drouin was inconsistent other than a red-hot stretch in the middle of the season. Cooper never seemed to have faith in him, though. His playing time went up when the Lightning were behind in the third period. That raised his average time on ice, especially when the team was struggling. There was also the game against Boston when the Filppula-Boyle-Drouin line was benched for the start of the third period after they were on the ice for a late goal by the Bruins in the second. But defensemen Jason Garrison and Andrej Sustr were mostly at fault.

We should have known at the time. Drouin was not part of the team’s future. He was traded for a prospect about three months later.

I can understand part of it. GM Steve Yzerman is a hockey lifer. He is mostly a traditionalist. His style is to stay out of things - let the coaches coach and players play - with communication at a minimum with the athletes. He played under Scotty Bowman and won two Cups that way.

Yzerman had to be thinking after the season, how can I give a player that deserted his team for two months $5-6 million per year long term? What would it look like if I did? I just gave Nikita Kucherov three years and $4.7 million per. I have to sign Drouin to a bridge deal just under that or trade him.

Cooper wasn’t going to change his mind. Drouin is not his kind of player. He didn’t coach him in the minors. He isn’t a gritty grinder. Drouin is all about creativity. You have to accept a few risky passes that go array per game to get all the good stuff he can provide.

Whether it was Yzerman’s style or the coaching staff putting him over the edge, it appears the decision was that Drouin was the one to be dealt. He was ultimately never forgiven for his youthful mistake.

No doubt, Drouin could bring in the best prize in the trade market. But I believe it was more than that.

I have been around hockey locker rooms long enough to understand players. Drouin was not disliked in the room. No way. He is confident. He plays with a swagger. You can even call him cocky. But don’t you want that in your best players?

Drouin was never going to win a Selke. But his defensive prowess had nothing to do with his minus-13 last season and my head explodes when people say on the radio that he wasn’t responsible defensively. Watch the 2015-16 playoffs again. The plus/minus statistic can be deceiving at times. Most of his total last season was a minus-7 in January when the whole team stunk.

All of this contributed to a bad decision, in my opinion. It had nothing to do with the cap. I could think of two players - if discarded - that could provide almost $4 million of additional cap room right now. The Lightning have plenty of space to take him at $5.5 for six years - what he signed for in Montreal after the trade. Perhaps he would have asked for more in Tampa? Who knows? But if $33-36 mil was waved in his face by Yzerman, I doubt Drouin would have turned it down.

It could have worked here. I can’t imagine Kucherov being upset for making a little less for a few years to get 20-25 nifty saucer passes from Drouin on the power play.

But I just don’t think Cooper wanted it to work and Yzerman’s plan probably wouldn’t allow a six-year deal for him.

I find it hard to believe that the Lightning could not have improved the defense by trading Tyler Johnson or a first-round pick or by putting together a creative package with prospects.

Drouin is a special talent. He is a future All-Star if he keeps his head on straight. He can be a top-10 scorer in the league. In my opinion, you don’t trade players with that type of potential when they are 22 for a maybe. This has nothing to do with Mikhail Sergachev. He’ll probably turn out to be a nice player. But we don’t know for sure. We know how good Drouin is. We saw a glimpse this season and you can only imagine what he could have been with Stamkos and Callahan in the lineup. But we never got to see that on a consistent basis, even when they were all healthy.

Cooper has done a lot of good things since he came to the Lightning organization. Yzerman has done just about everything right since taking over the Lightning. But the decisions made in the development of Drouin led to a poor outcome, something that could have been avoided.

Yzerman may pick up the pieces and turn the Lightning back into a Cup contender. He’s that good. But it is hard to lose a player that creates goals like Drouin. Whether he becomes a superstar is up to him, and fate.

It could have been done another way. Drouin could have fit into the plan. They should have made it work.

Don't Trade Drouin - Vegas Projection

By Mark Pukalo

Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman were signed long term. Important ground work was also completed before the last trade deadline. Now, the heavy lifting will be done to remodel the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The next month will be an interesting period for the NHL with the expansion draft, and Bolts fans should be in for a roller coaster ride of emotions. The way GM Steve Yzerman plugs all the leaks with the media, we never seem to know what he is going to do next. That often leads to wild rumors and speculation, which adds fear to the equation.

Still, Yzerman has yet to make a major mistake in his tenure that will hurt the team long term. He often pulls rabbits out of top hats with skill and a little luck. He has earned the fans’ confidence.

At the last trade deadline, Yzerman waved his lightsaber and Valtteri Filppula’s $5 million cap hit was gone to Philadelphia. He also received a big right-handed defense prospect (Erik Cernak) and a second-round pick by trading a pair of unrestricted free agents.

The next month to six weeks may offer the most difficult decisions for the Hall of Famer, though. Despite the fact the Lightning did not make the playoffs last season, there’s not an expert that doesn’t think they are close to being a Cup contender in 2017-18. The final pieces to the puzzle could come in the next few months, but at what cost?

Yzerman has always found a way. But there is one major mistake he could make this time around and a few other decisions that may create issues.

While there are many minor things that he can do to remake the roster, the two key issues are finding a top-three defenseman to add to the mix with the duo of Hedman and Anton Stralman, and deciding what to do up the middle behind Stamkos.

Yzerman must decide whether to go all in on getting a top-notch defenseman or acquire a young emerging player - someone like Brandon Montour from Anaheim - that may come a little cheaper. I have no doubt the Lightning brass has looked at every angle to what it would take to get Jacob Trouba from Winnipeg or Jake Muzzin from Los Angeles or Matthew Dumba from Minnesota, and even Sami Vatanen from Anaheim - despite his injury.

The Bolts have a strong corps of prospects and extra draft choices to deal. They also have a few young productive players like Tyler Johnson that can be moved.

The one thing they should not do? Trade Jonathan Drouin.

You just don't deal someone with special talent at this age. You are really tempting fate if you do.

There’s plenty of rumors out there that have the Lightning dealing Drouin to various teams for defense help. Normally, it doesn’t faze you because most of it is just uninformed speculation. But when Bob McKenzie reports the possibility, it has more credence. The only hope for Drouin fans is that 95 percent of the interest is coming from teams asking about him rather than the Lightning offering the talented wing around.

Even if the Lightning must shell out $5.5-6 million per for six years to keep Drouin, that may be a steal in a few seasons when he’s putting up 80 points.

Meanwhile, the most volatile issue for the Lightning faithful is who to protect before the expansion draft. For some reason, Alex Killorn has become a whipping boy for many Bolts fans after a rough second half in 2016-17.

Yzerman signed the power forward to a seven-year deal last offseason and Killorn went out and put up career highs of 19 goals, 176 shots, four power-play tallies and 10 power-play points in 2016-17. Sure, he takes the odd bad penalty. Sure, his second half was disappointing after a very fast start. But it seems very strange to me that fans have turned on him so quickly.

I’m willing to give Nikita Kucherov the benefit of the doubt that he was frustrated and did not expect his comments to find their way to Tampa Bay from Russia a few months ago. It appears he was questioning Killorn’s work ethic and I find that ridiculous. I’ve watched Killorn since he was in high school and one thing that has never crossed my mind is that he doesn’t work hard enough. My thought is that Kucherov wasn’t happy with who coach Jon Cooper put him with at times and took it out on Killorn because the left wing didn’t capitalize on a few of his passes. The one thing about Kucherov is that sometimes he overpasses and surprises players who are heading to the net for a possible rebound. Once he started to shoot more, the Russian sniper was outstanding last season. Kucherov and Killorn may just not work as linemates. That’s fine. But Kooch was out of line. Killorn is needed.

The argument that many are making is to keep Vladislav Namestnikov and expose Killorn to Vegas in the expansion draft, perhaps ridding the team of his $4.45 million cap hit for the next six seasons.

I’ve been hard on Namestnikov. Maybe too hard. But I’m not the only one who has been disappointed in his progress - especially last season. Vladdy produced when he was put with Stamkos and Kucherov for a few games, but then often cooled off and was dropped. There’s no doubt he has some offensive skills and can make a play, but I was most disappointed in his defensive intensity, consistency and the ability to accept passes cleanly. There were too many games when he was just invisible.

I’m not against Namestnikov getting the first chance to be a third-line center behind Stamkos and Brayden Point - if Johnson is dealt for defense help and Vegas decides to pass on him - but protecting the former London Knight and possibly losing a glue player like Killorn would be a mistake in my opinion. While I like Adam Erne more than some, I’m not sure he can immediately fill Killorn’s role as well. There are also potential third-line center candidates on the way in Brett Howden and Anthony Cirelli. If I were GM, I’d try to find a veteran third-line center with size to fill the gap for now and deal Namestnikov or let him go to Nevada.

It will be interesting to see what Yzerman comes up with. You can expect at least one major move. Trouba or Dumba would be solid additions. Vancouver’s Chris Tanev and Montour could work as well. Muzzin, although he is a lefty, is also interesting. More than likely, Yzerman will surprise us - and not overpay.

Ready or not, changes will come. Let’s just hope No. 27 is not one of them.

Vegas Baby

The more and more you hear out of Vegas, GM George McPhee will likely make many choices in the expansion draft to use in deals afterward. The Golden Knights are open for business and have probably gotten inquiries from all 30 teams.

Much will happen before the protected list is out, but here are my most recent projections from the Capfriendly.com expansion draft tool.

Forwards – Vladislav Namestnikov (Tampa Bay), Hunter Shinkaruk (Calgary), Phillip Di Giuseppe (Carolina), Lukas Sedlak (Columbus), Andreas Athanasiou (Detroit), Andrew Copp (Winnipeg), Trevor Lewis (Los Angeles), Jacob de la Rose (Montreal), Colton Sissons (Nashville), Devante Smith-Pelley (New Jersey), Michael Grabner (NY Rangers), Alan Quine (NY Islanders), Joel Ward (San Jose), Jori Lehtera (St. Louis), Kerby Rychel (Toronto).

Defensemen – Josh Manson (Anaheim), Adam McQuaid (Boston), Trevor van Riemsdyk (Chicago), Mark Barberio (Colorado), Jamie Oleksiak (Dallas), Griffin Reinhart (Edmonton), Alex Petrovic (Florida), Jonas Brodin (Minnesota), Fredrik Claesson (Ottawa), Ian Cole (Pittsburgh), Alex Biega (Vancouver).

Goalies – Philipp Grubauer (Washington), Linus Ullmark (Buffalo), Louis Domingue (Arizona), Michal Neuvirth (Philadelphia).