The Tampa Bay Lightning have traded restricted free agent winger Jonathan Drouin and a conditional 2018 6th round pick to the Montreal Canadiens for defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and a conditional 2018 2nd round pick.
Pierre LeBrun: The Conditions are that if Sergachev plays 40 games for the Lightning next year, there are no draft picks exchanged.
The 22-year old Drouin was drafted 3rd overall in the 2013 draft by the Lightning.
The 18-year old Sergachev was drafted 9th overall in the 2016 draft by the Canadiens.
Thoughts from the media …
Ryan Kennedy: “In terms of readiness, Sergachev can be an NHLer for Tampa right away”
Jason Brough: “Trading Drouin allows Bolts to keep, say, Vladislav Namestnikov. They were gonna lose a good forward.”
Matt Larkin: “Still would’ve liked to see Tampa deal Johnson instead of Drouin, as Johnson + Brayden Point is redundant to me skillset-wise.”
Sean Shapiro: “Steve Yzerman is pretty good at this GM thing”
Joe Smith: “Needless to say, this would be a dream come true for Jonathan Drouin, playing for hometown”
James Mirtle: “Drouin had to be protected in expansion or lost. Sergachev does not. Lightning were facing losing a good player for nothing; now they don’t. This kind of dealing is what’s really going to hurt Vegas; teams are going to get assets for players while they can and leave VGK scraps. Every team I’ve talked to the last few weeks is working on some variation of: “How do we give Vegas almost nothing?” Tampa pulls that off.”
Jim Matheson: “Wow. Good deal for Habs but giving up Sergachev on a team with a very iffy back-end after Weber and Petry and old Markov…”
Brian Wilde: “An unbelievable trade for the Habs. Drouin essentially for Sergachev is a perfect trade. The Habs finally get Drouin who they love.”
David Pagnotta: “Getting Galchenyuk didn’t add up for Tampa, Montreal was finally willing to move Sergachev.”
Matt Larkin: “Don’t forget, Drouin was being groomed for a time to learn the center position in Halifax. Don’t rule out him converting to C with Habs.”
Matt Larkin: “To me the wild card in the Drouin deal is how he responds to the pressure of being a Francophone player in Montreal. Will be fascinating.”
AJ Haefele: “Marc Bergevin WOULD use his best trade piece to solve his center problem with a wing”
Joshua Kloke: “Drouin deal a great one for Habs. Drouin’s already great and could only get better. Sergachev’s ceiling as yet unproven.”
Ryan Wagman: “I like this deal from both sides. Habs get dynamic scorer. Bolts get both cap breathing room and more palatable expansion exposure options.”
David Staples: “Sergachev is such a fantastic prospect. Great trade by Tampa.
Jonathan Drouin
Mikhail Sergachev
