TAMPA, FL – JUNE 06: Jonathan Drouin #27 of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates after the puck against the Chicago Blackhawks during Game Two of the 2015 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Amalie Arena on June 6, 2015 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

Jonathan Drouin demands to be traded

Before the season started, did any of you have Jonathan Drouin as a player who would demand a trade during the season? The young forward has all the promise in the world and it looks like he won’t be able to live out that promise in Tampa Bay. Drouin’s agent Allan Walsh released a statement to Bob McKenzie about the particular demand.

The statement is interesting because the player and the agent both believe that Drouin is ready to perform on an NHL team immediately. It would be hard to disagree with either of them by looking at the numbers. This tweet is especially startling when you put it into context of the other players on the list.

That is some pretty elite company that he is in. Could he be the outlier of the bunch? Possibly, but what is holding back the Lightning to play him the amount of time that he deserves? He is still an extremely young and valuable player in the league. The Lightning better be careful in any trade because it could end up like the Tyler Seguin situation which shows how costly it can be when a team gives up on a young player too early. Comparing to other first rounders that were sent out of town like Nino Niederreiter, Tampa Bay could be looking at a return of a roster player and a pick. Not the best for a team looking for a return on investment.

What no one else takes into consideration is the fact that just because someone demands a trade doesn’t mean that a trade will actually transpire. They still have the player under contract and can still get good use out of him. It will seemingly be a very fluid situation with a lot of moving parts.

Let the games begin.

About Sam Blazer

Sam is a self proclaimed chess prodigy. He once placed seventh in the state of Ohio in Chess when he was in kindergarten. He will rarely if ever mention though that only eight people were entered in this tournament. Contact him at sblaze17@gmail.com

Quantcast