He got drafted 3rd based on what he did in the junior league, not at his job. He was given a max ELC which is not too shabby for never doing your actual job.

JD asking for something suitable to him is the problem, who is JD, why is he better than anyone else? If we allow JD to do this and think it's fine for JD to do this people will leave the last place teams every year. Nobody said being a professional athlete was easy but you get paid well to do it and sometimes you're happy and sometimes you're not. What if everyone in Edmonton just refused to play because they were not playing in Chicago?
- Kucherovski

Look at say, Ottawa who recently loaned Mikael Wikstrand to the SHL. The player didn't want to stay in North America for whatever reason and Ottawa afforded him a change of scenery. They did this knowing that the player may never return. This happens several times a year in different scenarios.

Is it exactly the same, no, but it is a situation where a player has asked for a change and the team has accommodated them AND the world hasn't ended because of it.


Consider that Ottawa just didn't give Mikael what he expected when playing over here, even though they likely sold him on how great it would be as part of the Ottawa franchise.

Yep, its going to be one of two options and I dont blame either party for their stance. They both have a right to do this in the current system, knowing the risks and penalties involved
- WhiteLie

It ends up being a bad situation for both organizations but it's the employee who doesn't honor their contract gets my blame. Especially when all of his co-workers just suck it up and work for it until they deserve a transfer to Vancouver while this kid sits on the sidelines and cries about it.

It ends up being a bad situation for both organizations but it's the employee who doesn't honor their contract gets my blame. Especially when all of his co-workers just suck it up and work for it until they deserve a transfer to Vancouver while this kid sits on the sidelines and cries about it.
- RonPielep

It sucks when you want to work for chevron but shell owns you for 8 years......

There are a lot of really good points being raised here. I know many are accusing JT of posting click bait in order to do nothing but garner hits and I am not ready to make a judgement on this one way or another.

What I will do is say that at least there is some good debating here and it hasn't completely devolved into a childish shouting match along the lines of a presidential primary debate.

What I would like to see as a consumer of hockey news is for there to be a larger discussion on what current agreements are in place between the CHL/NHL and other European professional and developmental leagues. These are matters of which I am truly uninformed but would like to learn more about. Someone needs to write an in depth blog/article outlining some of these things so we can all better understand them and so I don't have to do any of the actual research myself.

You tried to make a point, missed what I was saying completely and now you're acting like a child. Please go away.
- James_Tanner

Easy there James, don't resort to name calling now, it's not a good fit for you...

Your point was taken in fully and responded to fully, quit trying to act like a victim of some kind of cultural social psychology when really you are to blame for making garbage arguments that you refuse to back up.

It sucks when you want to work for chevron but shell owns you for 8 years......
- Pres.cup

Yeah, I guess you shouldn't have knowingly signed that agreement with Shell for them to own you for 8 years. But don't look to me for sympathy when it happens because it was painfully obvious to everyone that such is the reality with contracts with Shell and you still chose to work for them.

Guess you should have chose Chevron from the beginning...

I think every team has a prospect that is stuck in the AHL, but the big club simply doesn't have room. Pouliot from the pens comes to mind. Guy should be playing in the NHL but is stuck in the AHL due to bad contracts, waiver eligibility, and for the fact he does need to work on some aspects of his game. Drouin is a top 6 player and playing him with 4th line scrubs isn't going to help him, however TB has their top 6 set and is playing good hockey right now. I'm sure when TB drafted him, they expected him to be a top 6 player right away, but other guys like Johnson, Killorn, Kucherov, Namestikov, etc... simply outplayed him. Drouin is probably being influenced by his agent, but the kid needs to realize he's young and needs to work on his game. He also knows Yzerman is trying to trade him and needs to understand the business of the sport. Yzerman isn't going to give him to another team because Drouin wants to be traded

As other Blues fans have mentioned, how about Sobotka for Drouin. Two guys who don't want to play for the team that owns their rights.

There are a lot of really good points being raised here. I know many are accusing JT of posting click bait in order to do nothing but garner hits and I am not ready to make a judgement on this one way or another.

What I will do is say that at least there is some good debating here and it hasn't completely devolved into a childish shouting match along the lines of a presidential primary debate.

What I would like to see as a consumer of hockey news is for there to be a larger discussion on what current agreements are in place between the CHL/NHL and other European professional and developmental leagues. These are matters of which I am truly uninformed but would like to learn more about. Someone needs to write an in depth blog/article outlining some of these things so we can all better understand them and so I don't have to do any of the actual research myself.
- BlueBallz

Yeah I agree with this post. And truthfully regardless of whether James posts inflammatory opinions for hits or not really makes no difference to me. For the most part I like debating regardless but I generally get more enjoyment by arguing with other posters who supports an altered and much more reasonable version of James' argument (or a separate one altogether). Especially because those posters tend not to get arrogant or condescending about it and try to act like a victim of the status quo of NHL fans.

i've missed the point, and you're using the word "fascist" because people are calling you a troll. don't worry good sir, i promise i won't read your stuff and miss the point on your next horrible blog. i feel dirty enough already for reading this one and responding to any of its ramblings.
- chester97

All of these fascists supporting the slavery of our professional athletes...

Support Drouin how?

If the team thinks its for Drouins best interest to send him down, then that's what he does.

The team has his best interest at heart. When Druoin comes back a more complete player, the team benefits. Druoin benefits because he will be able to be the best player he can be. Everybody wins, short term pain for long term gain.

He never lit the world on fire when he was up here, if you really support Drouin you'd tell him to take his medicine and report.


I would also save the Marxist angle for another blogsite, it really isn't at all relevant here.

Support Drouin how?

If the team thinks its for Drouins best interest to send him down, then that's what he does.

The team has his best interest at heart. When Druoin comes back a more complete player, the team benefits. Druoin benefits because he will be able to be the best player he can be. Everybody wins, short term pain for long term gain.

He never lit the world on fire when he was up here, if you really support Drouin you'd tell him to take his medicine and report.


I would also save the Marxist angle for another blogsite, it really isn't at all relevant here.
- david22

You HAVE to support/respect Drouin for standing up for his principles:

No short term pain, all long term gain!

We all have no idea what was discussed between Yzerman and Drouin/ agent. Could of made promises and not keeping them etc. Something happened to make this go sour.

Regardless, Yzerman is the one who will pay. If I'm Stamkos Im thinking well maybe long term I don't want to be here, or if I do this cluster F just gave me more leverage for a better contract just so Yzerman can save face.

Support Drouin how?

If the team thinks its for Drouins best interest to send him down, then that's what he does.

The team has his best interest at heart. When Druoin comes back a more complete player, the team benefits. Druoin benefits because he will be able to be the best player he can be. Everybody wins, short term pain for long term gain.

He never lit the world on fire when he was up here, if you really support Drouin you'd tell him to take his medicine and report.


I would also save the Marxist angle for another blogsite, it really isn't at all relevant here.
- david22

Don't forget Yzerman has been working on a trade since November. It's not like he completely disregarded the request for a trade. He's simply looking for the best deal

Interesting story in Tampa. I believe Drouin is making a mistake and will learn from it. I have no idea of the outcome but expect a trade will get done before deadline and Tampa fans will be disappointed.

I find the player drama interesting in Tampa. Yzerman is not having an easy time but he knows how to control his message to the media. I believe our expectations of Yzerman are likely wrong. We think he is a mastermind because of Olympics and Detroit management schooling and a players' GM because of being a HOF player. Likely neither. I believe he is smart but is still learning on the job and keeps misreading his players expectations and failing to communicate his position to them. He has messed up with Lecavalier, St Louis, Stamkos and Drouin. He has overpaid for Callahan and Carle and struggled to find a goalie until he landed Bishop. Yzerman is not perfect nor evil just human with a plus 50% decision making record.

How the Stamkos story plays out will tell us a lot. I still expect we will see Yzerman in Detroit sometime in the future. If he fails to sign Stamkos it might be sooner than later.

Interesting story in Tampa. I believe Drouin is making a mistake and will learn from it. I have no idea of the outcome but expect a trade will get done before deadline and Tampa fans will be disappointed.

I find the player drama interesting in Tampa. Yzerman is not having an easy time but he knows how to control his message to the media. I believe our expectations of Yzerman are likely wrong. We think he is a mastermind because of Olympics and Detroit management schooling and a players' GM because of being a HOF player. Likely neither. I believe he is smart but is still learning on the job and keeps misreading his players expectations and failing to communicate his position to them. He has messed up with Lecavalier, St Louis, Stamkos and Drouin. He has overpaid for Callahan and Carle and struggled to find a goalie until he landed Bishop. Yzerman is not perfect nor evil just human with a plus 50% decision making record.

How the Stamkos story plays out will tell us a lot. I still expect we will see Yzerman in Detroit sometime in the future. If he fails to sign Stamkos it might be sooner than later.
- Leafsandbolts

Any facts here? Let's fix it. Vinny was signed before Yzerman, before the NHL even had a salary cap so Yzerman had to fix that since it was a bad cap move. Carle was a mistake, totally agree, but Carle put up 35-40 points per year before Yzerman signed him. Now we can tell it was a bad deal but every GM has signed bad deals, not just Yzerman.

Yeah, I guess you shouldn't have knowingly signed that agreement with Shell for them to own you for 8 years. But don't look to me for sympathy when it happens because it was painfully obvious to everyone that such is the reality with contracts with Shell and you still chose to work for them.

Guess you should have chose Chevron from the beginning...
- RonPielep

But you never had a choice to begin with because Shell bought the rights to your employment.........
Unless you choose not to work I guess...

Any facts here? Let's fix it. Vinny was signed before Yzerman, before the NHL even had a salary cap so Yzerman had to fix that since it was a bad cap move. Carle was a mistake, totally agree, but Carle put up 35-40 points per year before Yzerman signed him. Now we can tell it was a bad deal but every GM has signed bad deals, not just Yzerman.
- Kucherovski

He did trade for Eric Brewer and Brewer is/was terrible

He did trade for Eric Brewer and Brewer is/was terrible
- Gerk

He also traded for Ben Bishop who was a Vezina finalist. Can't win em all that is for sure.

You can support Drouin all you want, still doesn't change the fact this situation couldn't possibly be handled any worse. He asked for a trade, Yzerman was working on making that trade but under the terms of the trade helping the Lightning organization which is Yzerman's JOB. Drouin's job is to play hockey, it is what he signed up to do and was being paid to do. As it is he was outplayed by other players which is why he wasn't playing, and it wouldn't be fair to those players to GIVE Drouin a spot he didn't earn.

Also, could you possibly make your argument without involving the owner who has little to no input in the day to day operations of the team? Comparing Drouin to a billionaire owner makes no sense. Vinik didn't put Drouin in Cuse, Yzerman did. Vinik allows Yzerman the freedom to do his job which is why Yzerman was willing to leave Detroit in the 1st place.

But you never had a choice to begin with because Shell bought the rights to your employment.........
Unless you choose not to work I guess...
- Pres.cup

I think you're confused. Drouin did not have to sign (frank) all with the NHL and he did not have to participate in the draft. Then he would have been free to go play wherever he felt like.

This is the kind of reaction I expected. But its based on a false premise. He already proved he is NHL quality. The Lightning are acting like immature babies. It's his only move. I find the judgement so sad - just think about it for a bit.

Other players proved they are better (right now) NHL quality. Bolts (Cooper and Yzeman) jobs are to put the best team on the ice each given night that gives the organization the best chance to win. Bolts aren't acting like immature babies, Drouin is b/c he can't handle the fact that other players outplayed him and earned a spot that potentially could have been his (Namestnikov)

Yzerman was working on a trade to allow Drouin to move on. However his job isn't to appease Drouin, it is to do what is best for the Bolts. All this move from Drouin did was make that job more difficult and quite possible make the process longer.

Just think about it for a bit

You can support Drouin all you want, still doesn't change the fact this situation couldn't possibly be handled any worse. He asked for a trade, Yzerman was working on making that trade but under the terms of the trade helping the Lightning organization which is Yzerman's JOB. Drouin's job is to play hockey, it is what he signed up to do and was being paid to do. As it is he was outplayed by other players which is why he wasn't playing, and it wouldn't be fair to those players to GIVE Drouin a spot he didn't earn.

Also, could you possibly make your argument without involving the owner who has little to no input in the day to day operations of the team? Comparing Drouin to a billionaire owner makes no sense. Vinik didn't put Drouin in Cuse, Yzerman did. Vinik allows Yzerman the freedom to do his job which is why Yzerman was willing to leave Detroit in the 1st place.
- uf1910

He's a graduate of the Mike Gillis School of Waiting For a Better Deal

In all seriousness, teams are lowballing Tampa and Steve is overvaluing Drouin right now. Steve needs to just take the best deal he has, shop it around and pull the trigger, waiting isnt going to get a better return for a prospect

He's a graduate of the Mike Gillis School of Waiting For a Better Deal

In all seriousness, teams are lowballing Tampa and Steve is overvaluing Drouin right now. Steve needs to just take the best deal he has, shop it around and pull the trigger, waiting isnt going to get a better return for a prospect
- WhiteLie

Steve doesn't need to do anything. Drouin needs to honor his contract if he wants to be paid. If I were Steve I'd tell Drouin to give his head a shake and start proving his worth on the ice or a trade will never happen. I'd wait until Drouin accepted this and his stock rose before I sold him.

And if he doesn't want to accept it and play hockey then I'd let him sit at home and not make (frank) all for the next few years until he does get it.

I certainly wouldn't let a 20 year old kid on a UFA undermine the integrity of my entire organization and development system.

You can support Drouin all you want, still doesn't change the fact this situation couldn't possibly be handled any worse. He asked for a trade, Yzerman was working on making that trade but under the terms of the trade helping the Lightning organization which is Yzerman's JOB. Drouin's job is to play hockey, it is what he signed up to do and was being paid to do. As it is he was outplayed by other players which is why he wasn't playing, and it wouldn't be fair to those players to GIVE Drouin a spot he didn't earn.

Also, could you possibly make your argument without involving the owner who has little to no input in the day to day operations of the team? Comparing Drouin to a billionaire owner makes no sense. Vinik didn't put Drouin in Cuse, Yzerman did. Vinik allows Yzerman the freedom to do his job which is why Yzerman was willing to leave Detroit in the 1st place.
- uf1910

The owner was invoked to make the point that people making a moral argument against Drouin are being ridiculous, which they are.