Drouin for the 2nd Pick- Would you?
Yesterday an interesting tweet was thrown out by Andrew Berkshire:
Jets fans had long wondered if the team had made overtures to Tampa Bay about Jonothan Drouin this past season when it became known he wanted a trade. In case you were not aware Drouin and Ehlers were line mates on the Halifax Mooseheads in the QMJHL. They were pretty good too.
Now this question has two sides- would Tampa trade for that pick as much as the Jets would trade for Drouin? Would it even be an equal trade? Well this is worth looking at in more detail.
The great equalizer in the NHL is the salary cap. It means at some point all teams have to adhere to one thing that affects their roster the same way. Of course this is not news to anyone but it is also a very real issue for some teams heading into next season and the Bolts and Jets could not be on further ends of the spectrum.
According to
Cap Friendly the Lightning have just over 21 million in cap space for next season but also 10 roster spots that require new contracts or replacement. One is pretty important, Steven Stamkos. At those number the average would be 2 million per deal to re-sign them all. Now consider Stamkos has a number that starts with a ‘1’ and seven numbers after that then realize it’s 9 players and 10 million or 900k each.
Kucherov just scored 30 goals this season so he’s in the 5-6 million club and Palat will want a raise from his 3.3 million and Killorn likely will expect more than his current 2.5. As you can see there are many issues at stake here and certainly the vultures are circling around Yzerman’s office right now, as they should be. But take Stamkos out or leave him in, something has to be done to manage salary and where it’s being spent.
Drouin still has one more year of his entry level deal and is not the problem but he presents a challenge. He has asked for a trade and we still don’t know if that ask is still in effect. Should he continue on his current trajectory he will be paid handsomely and with Alan Walsh as his agent that is all but certain. The other variable is after next season too when Johnson, Palat and Hedman all come up too where does the cap space come from then?
Now consider expansion.
It would seem that NHL teams and their GMs better learn about this soon as that is the great variable for this off-season and how players will be protected come next summer’s expected expansion draft. Drouin would be coming off his third year and require one of the protected spaces, a player like expected second overall pick Patrik Laine would not. It’s a move that if it works out, makes a lot of sense for Tampa.
Is it a fair trade?
That’s the big mystery for many. When is the last time a draft pick that high was traded? My recollection says in 1999 when the Canucks traded up to take both Sedins. So is one pick, the second over all in a cap world with expansion looming fair game for a two year player who has huge upside and is proving it as his team makes the conference finals?
The Jets may covet Drouin simply because of the possible ‘set-up’ man familiarity with Ehlers from their time in Halifax. They would also find appeal because Drouin would lower the age gap down the middle to him, Schiefele, Lowry and Copp and Nic Petan. That’s not a bad stable of young centres. But the who plays wing?
Some would suggest that Kyle Connor could fit on the third line but that was with drafting Laine. Now without Laine does the pressure on Connor look like what Ehlers had this past season? Also, where does that leave Bryan Little?
If we take Chevy at his word that the Jets could be even younger this coming season would it make sense to keep Little if you had a one-two punch of Drouin-Scheifele? The point here is that too much of a position can cause other problems like ice-time and imbalance in the roster. Certainly every team wants to be deep in the centre position but the Jets have holes so how can they get filled.
Trade Bryan Little.
Little has one of the best deal in the league with two years left at less than 5 million per year. He also could fetch something quite attractive for the Jets particularly down the left side on defence, and that’s in a one for one deal. Add a prospect or pick to sweeten the pot and Bryan Little becomes an interesting piece for a team looking to add a quality centre.
I’m not advocating trading Little, well may just a bit, but should this idea of Drouin for the 2nd overall get some traction and happen, where does that leave Little? He’d certainly be a valuable player, there’s not question but for the Jets he’d be most valuable in a trade. That however is a long way from happening- if you were the Jets or the Bolts would you make this deal?
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