Tampa Bay Lightning: Jonathan Drouin Latest Trade Rumors
By Kyle Barber
As the days continue to go by, more rumors are coming out as to where Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin could be moved to.
We are now almost two weeks to the day that the agent of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin went public with a trade request the two made to the team back in November. Since that time, there have been many rumors and predictions as to where we could possibly end up.
As trade rumors begin to intensify and news continues to go public with news from the Lightning and other team, there are many scenarios that have been brought up in what looks to be a trade that could go down any day now. Many teams have been tied into the Drouin sweepstakes, but teams in the western conference have really been making the push, starting with the St. Louis Blues.
A report from TVA’s Renaud Lavonie said that Drouin could be dealt “within the next 24 hours” and the St. Louis Blues “are the main contender”. Earlier in the week, I wrote an article talking about three trade destinations for Drouin, with Anaheim, St. Louis, and San Jose being three of the logical destinations for the 20-year-old winger. Here is a piece of what I thought of the St. Louis Blues situations.
"This one could be interesting. Very interesting, actually. Right now, the St. Louis Blues have two of their top five scorers play on the blue line and Vladimir Tarasenko is carrying the team on the wing. On the left-wing, Magnus Paajarvi leads the team with 5 points in 28 games. That’s it. Now, they lost Jaden Schwartz early when he badly fractured his ankle on October 22nd and he was the team’s leading goal scorer last year with 28, but that is still pretty bad.Adding Drouin would automatically give you a playmaker on the first line to play with Tarasenko and David Backes, and would make one of the league’s best scorers even more dangerous. The team also operates with a very strong blue line, and the team could move one of those blue liners to add Drouin to their forward core."
You can see the rest of the article here.
The Blues have many pieces that could interest Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman, with Robby Fabbri, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Colton Parayko being three of the top player the Blues could be looking deal. Shattenkirk is an intriguing option, as there have been reports saying the Blues could be looking to trade the 26-year-old defender.
As for another team that has been in the news with trade talks, the Anaheim Ducks could also look to trade for the talented Lightning forward. In an article written about a week ago, I took a look at a player the Lightning could get in return in a potential package deal, defenseman Sami Vatanen.
pucksofafeather.com was nice enough to give us a full scouting report of the Finnish blue liner, and it could be something the Lightning could potentially look forward to.
"Plain and simple, Vatanen is an offensive minded puck moving blue-liner that loves to join the rush. He can quarterback a top power play unit and despite his size, he has a powerful slap shot from the point. He has great hands which allow him to make some really nice plays in the offensive zone.His first pass is pretty good and he sees the game well. His patience is underrated and he often makes the right decision. However as is the case with any offensive minded defenseman, mishaps and turnovers occur and that is something you live with in hopes that Sami’s offense will outweigh the mishaps."
You can find the rest of the scouting report and my thoughts on a potential deal here.
Recently, an article from the Star Tribune mentioned the Minnesota Wild as a contender in the Jonathan Drouin sweepstakes.
According to the article, the Wild were in on the Ryan Jonansen sweepstakes earleir in the month, but the former Blue Jacket was traded to the Nashville Predators for defenseman Seth Jones. With Jonansen out of the picture, the team shifted it’s focus to Jonathan Drouin.
"The Wild is one of several teams having trade talks with Lightning GM Steve Yzerman. Other teams pursuing Drouin, according to league sources, include St. Louis, Anaheim, the Rangers, Islanders, Colorado, Winnipeg, Montreal and New Jersey.The price for Drouin, the third overall pick in the 2013 draft, is considered a young player of similar ilk. From the Wild, the Lightning has asked for defenseman Matt Dumba, sources say, a pending restricted free agent coming out of his entry-level contract. Dumba, 21, the seventh pick in the 2012 draft, ranked third among NHL rookie defensemen last season with eight goals in 58 games."
Matt Dumba is certainly an intriguing option that the Lightning could trade a look at, especially with the potential shifting the blue line could have after the season. I will have a full scouting report on Dumba in the coming days if Drouin has not been moved.
Stay tuned for more breaking news and analysis of the Jonathan Drouin trade saga around with news and opinions about the rest of the team here with us at Bolts by the Bay.