Despite Jonathan Drouin's breakout season, the Tampa Bay Lightning are open to trading him if they can get their hands on the right defenseman.
In this edition of the hotstove, we share our thoughts on the best trade matches for Drouin and the Lightning.
Todd Cordell
Nashville and Anaheim stand out the most to me.
The Predators have the best top-4 in the NHL and, as it stands, they'd likely have to expose the likes of Colin Wilson, Craig Smith and some other useful forwards to keep all four assuming they protect 4/4/1.
If they were to deal, say, Mattias Ekholm, who I really like, for Drouin it would allow them to use the 7/3/1 and protect the forwards mentioned above. It would also give the Predators some much needed dynamic scoring outside of the top line.
Anaheim is another team that, as it stands, will be forced to leave a few solid forwards exposed to try and protect all their defensemen.
Given Brandon Montour and Shea Theodore are ready for full-time NHL duty, I think moving someone like Sami Vatanen, and perhaps a draft pick/prospect, or Cam Fowler for Drouin makes sense. That kind of trade would leave the Ducks in better position for the expansion draft and upgrade an already potent offense.
The other team that stands out to me is Carolina but, all things being equal, I feel like Steve Yzerman would rather move Drouin out of the conference.
Peter Tessier
If this deal can happen the obvious contenders are Carolina, Anaheim, and Nashville. One aspect about Nashville is that Johansen is an RFA this year which could make things interesting.
It's a tired old tune but I'll keep playing it anyway- does the expansion draft throw a curve ball into this scenario? By that I mean will it open up potential suitors. I wonder is a team like the Canucks would float Chris Tanev and their 5th pick to make a bigger deal with Tampa?
This will come down to how badly Yzerman wants to change this team and missing the playoffs did not help.