Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman said what you’d expect about trading (or not trading) Jonathan Drouin, but really, what would it take to pry that promising player away?
Well, we can narrow it down in one way: not a piece like St. Louis Blues defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk, as had been rumored before.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman laid out the blueprint for landing Drouin during Saturday’s Headlines segment: the Lightning want “young for young.”
More precisely, Friedman notes that the Lightning want a young player whose contract they can control. That’s why Robby Fabbri’s name is coming up, according to Friedman.
(Again, check out the full segment here.)
It’s easy to see why this is the asking price, with an emphasis on price. While Shattenkirk is quite the steal at a $4.25 million cap hit, the Lightning need to save every nickle and dime to re-sign the likes of Steven Stamkos, not to mention other prominent players who are only a season or two away from expiring contracts.
That’s all pretty reasonable, yet it’s specific enough that it might be a trickier asking price for some teams, especially if Yzerman is picky about the type of prospect he’d take in return.
Speaking of Shattenkirk: Friedman notes that the Blues are getting calls about Shattenkirk now that his name surfaced in rumors, and he was possibly being floated for Ryan Johansen.
Really, that could be just as interesting to watch as Drouin trade scuttlebutt, at least if St. Louis is truly serious about moving its underrated scoring blueliner.