Colorado Avalanche Roundtable: Jonathan Drouin on the Trading Block

Quick and easy. Jonathan Drouin has requested a trade from the Tampa Bay Lightning. Patrick Roy is known to be a big fan of Drouin. Should the Avalanche pursue him?

Cole: No team in the NHL should be more interested in Jonathan Drouin than the Colorado Avalanche. Chemistry is a funny thing at the NHL level and we’ve watched Patrick Roy and his Avalanche forwards search for it for the better part of 35 games this season so when you know you have a dynamic duo like Jonathan Drouin and Nathan MacKinnon you strike while the iron is hot. Those two players wreaked havoc on the QMJHL as linemates, roommates, and close friends and at just 20 years old, they could become a staple for the Avalanche for the next decade. To me the idea of reuniting MacKinnon and Drouin is akin to Vancouver trading up in the draft to snag both Sedin twins, the pair is much greater than the sum of its individual parts.

AJ: As one of the people who was in the camp for drafting Drouin over MacKinnon originally in 2013, I’m naturally excited as hell about the possibility of him being available. The real problems I see off the bat are that he may have requested a trade but the Lightning are under no obligation to honor that request and the teams aren’t a particularly good fit asset-wise. The bigger problem of the two, however, is a combination of both. Because Tampa Bay is under no obligation to trade Drouin right now, they can patiently wait for things to improve internally while fielding competitive offers for him and playing the trade market. This isn’t Ryan O’Reilly breaking down every door in Colorado trying to escape. This is only just beginning.

Cole: Tampa Bay certainly has some extra control in this situation. Drouin is an RFA in the 2017 offseason and has four more years after that before he could walk out of Tampa Bay on his own. What I do wonder if you’re Steve Yzerman, is if you make the deal anyway to rebuild the culture and attitude around the Lightning. Whether it’s constant delays in contract negotiations, or liking one too many tweets about a Toronto trade… Steven Stamkos’ looming departure is a dark cloud over that team, a distraction, and a crummy situation for all involved (except maybe Stamkos himself).

After dealing with a discontent Marty St. Louis and now Stamkos, I can’t imagine Yzerman trying to force the issue with a third marquee player. There are plenty of players who’d be happy to play in Tampa Bay, Yzerman should take Jonathan Drouin and go find some of them.

AJ: This is where I completely agree with you. They may not be in a contractual crunch to move Drouin but the culture around the team has run into some issues this year. All the things you mentioned remain relevant and you have to wonder how much the off-ice issues are causing the problems for the lackluster Lightning this year. Granted, they’ve had a myriad of injury issues to contend with but even when healthy, they have been a shell of the Stanley Cup runner-up.

It might be best to start rooting out some of these organizational issues and get on the same page with some players. If a player wants out badly enough to formally a request a trade, I think they should look into it. You don’t want to be there? Fine. Plenty of guys would love to play in TB.

So we’re in agreement the Avalanche should look into dealing for Drouin. Now comes the question of cost. Give me two trade proposals that you feel make sense for both teams.

Cole: It’s not often that a young, top draftee like Jonathan Drouin finds himself on the trade block but the move isn’t unprecedented either. The best comparison within today’s NHL trade market has got to be the deal which sent Tyler Seguin from Boston to Dallas. That full trade sent Tyler Seguin, Rich Peverley, and Ryan Button to Dallas in exchange for Loui Eriksson, Joe Morrow, Reilly Smith, and Matt Fraser.

Of course, Drouin has shown considerably less in the NHL than Seguin did at the time of the trade, but with Tampa Bay somewhere between exiting their rebuild and contending for a cup you’re likely to see a similar hodgepodge of NHL players and prospects in an eventual Drouin deal.

I think it’s safe to say on the Avalanche’s end that they would have to give up one of Mikhail Grigorenko, Nikita Zadorov, or Chris Bigras in any deal. Using the Seguin trade as a model, maybe the Avalanche can structure a deal around Grigorenko, a depth roster player, and a prospect like Duncan Siemens. Siemens, like Drouin in Tampa Bay, has had some ups and downs in the organization but he has an excellent pedigree and has played some of his steadiest, best hockey in San Antonio this season. He’s the type of prospect ripe for a “change of scenery” trade and one that Tampa Bay, who has three expensive defenseman over 30 years old, might find enticing.

AJ: Given the costs of their current blue line, I think it’s important for them to get something cheap in return. My proposed deal sends Nikita Zadorov and Colorado’s 2017 first round pick to Tampa Bay in exchange for Drouin and 2015 draftee Matt Spencer. Tampa Bay gets a high level prospect plus an unprotected first round pick and Colorado gets a young player for their top nine without sacrificing Mikko Rantanen and a young defender cut from Colorado’s preferred mold in Spencer. Because I’m a little comfortable with this, it means I’m probably still selling Tampa Bay short here so I’ll add in Conner Bleackley as well. Bleackley is a good young player who had a tough start this year in Red Deer but is likely ready to make the jump to pro hockey next season.

Cole: This is the kind of deal that I think we’re most likely to see at the end of the day. Zadorov and Colorado’s 2017 first is a high price, likely too high for Drouin alone, and so Tampa Bay adds something small to sweeten the pot so they can get higher guaranteed value in return. It’s just like Boston adding Rich Peverley and Ryan Button to their deal with the Stars. That said, I think if you’re looking to add a prospect like Matt Spencer to the Avs’ take, it’s going to take Michigan forward J.T. Compher, not Conner Bleackley, to get the deal done.

AJ: Co-signed. Your move, Joe.