The NHL Offseason Is Officially Underway: Lightning Trade Drouin To The Habs
Well, folks, here we fucking go. We knew it was going to be a busy offseason with the addition of the Expansion Draft coming up next week. But 4 days into the NHL offseason and we already get our first blockbuster deal of the summer. Jonathan Drouin is on his way to Quebec to play for the Habs after getting dealt for Mikhail Sergachev and a conditional 2nd rounder.
Obviously Drouin’s relationship with Steve Yzerman and the Tampa Bay Lightning has been rocky to say the least. They seemed to have patched things up last season but clearly neither sides were ready to fully embrace the other. So instead of trying to work out a contract deal with Drouin this offseason as he’s an RFA coming off of his ELC, the Bolts shipped him back up north for the Canadiens to deal with. So now the Canadiens own his negotiating rights when he hits restricted free agency on July 1. And I’m assuming that won’t be too much of an issue for him since Drouin is from there and clearly would like to play for the Canadiens and the Canadiens would clearly love to have his talent to spark their weak ass forward crew. The best part about this deal for Montreal? When Jonathan Drouin runs home after not getting enough playing time this year, at least he’ll only be right down the street.
As for the Lightning, well they get a great young defenseman out of this deal. Sergachev was the 9th overall pick in last year’s draft and highly regarded as one of the top prospects in the league. You add him to a lineup with Victor Hedman and now Tampa has one of the best, young defensive units in the league moving forward. Getting rid of Drouin will help the Bolts sign their other free agents this offseason and Sergachev is coming in for pennies.
P.S. – There were rumors going around this morning that this trade was going to be Drouin for Galchenyuk straight up. I actually think the Lightning made out a little better in the scenario that actually just went down.