Yzerman says Lightning still looking to trade Drouin

A tense situation has gone from boiling to radioactive Wednesday, when the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that they were suspending 20-year-old forward Jonathan Drouin indefinitely, without pay.

The Wild was one of eight teams that had a scout in attendance on Monday night to watch Drouin play for Syracuse in an American Hockey League game in Rochester.

Walsh’s statement indicated that the Lightning were close to completing a trade involving Drouin, so the player and his agent requested that he sit out to avoid the risk of injury.

“When the Tampa Bay Lightning assigned Jonathan Drouin to Syracuse, it was explained the goal of the assignment was twofold: (1) conditioning due to missed games from injury and (2) provide proof that he had completely recovered from his injury”, Walsh said.

It’s believed the St. Louis Blues were among the teams most interested in Drouin, but injuries to a number of their players has prevented a deal from being ironed out. The GM added that he can’t answer yet if the current situation will impact offers from other teams. “Every time I turn the page I hear we’re making a deal with a certain team on the East Coast”, Murray commented to Los Angeles Times writer Helene Elliott.

“I feel that as an organization in the five and a half years I’ve been here, (Coach Jon Cooper) is in his third year, from Andrei Vasilevskiy in goal to Nikita Nesterov to Andrej Sustr to Ondrej Palat to Tyler Johnson to Cedric Paquette, Vladdy Namestnikov, a lot of young players had to come up and spent time in the minors and been healthy scratches and have been there, ” Yzerman told the Tampa Bay Times. His refusal to report, causing the suspension, may not have been staying home, but following through on Walsh’s plan and still trying to remain a part of the team.

When all this mess started, there was speculation as to whether this was actually Jonathan Drouin’s intentions or the workings of his agent Allan Walsh. As expected, Jonathan Drouin reported to Syracuse and stood in front of the media; however, he absolutely refused to answer any questions pertaining to his trade request.

“I see a kid who is really engaged”, Zettler said.

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Similarly, the Lightning are under no obligation to meet Drouin’s demands.

There also could be concern from potential suitors, such as Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher, that Drouin is unable to handle adversity and thus could end up being a liability.

In both of his final two seasons in the QMJHL, the Ste-Agathe native played under 50 games. When it didn’t happen quickly enough, his agent went public with the request as a way to pressure the Lightning.