On the Tampa Bay Lightning …
Erik Erlendsson of Tampa Tribune: Lightning GM Steve Yzerman can be patient with Jonathan Drouin, even though he may prefer to trade by the deadline.
“If I can do something that makes us a better team right now, I’d prefer (trading him before the deadline) to waiting,: Yzerman said, :but I will also keep the future in mind when considering any trade involving Jonathan.”
Yzerman is unsure of what the return would be.
“I’m not so sure I’m going to get that player for him in a trade, but we have to decide — do we get a good, young player that can play now or do we look for assets that might potentially help us in the future?”
Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times: Lightning GM Steve Yzerman said he’s talked to a lot teams about Jonathan Drouin. It’s believed that Yzerman has several offers on the table for Drouin.
“I definitely prefer to deal him sooner than later; it would be better for everyone,” Yzerman told the Tampa Bay Times on Wednesday. “A lot of things factor into it when making the trade; (there are) a lot of things to consider here. But No. 1 is ‘Can I do something involving Jonathan that benefits the team that makes us better right now that helps us for the playoffs?’ I’d certainly like to do that.”
Yzerman would like to improve their power play.
“We all have needs,” Yzerman said. “If I could do something to help our power play, I’d like to do that. And that’s going to be difficult to do.”
The Lightning have only about $1.5 million in cap space, so taking on salary would mean they’d have to send some the other way. Speculation has followed Matt Carle and his $5.5 million for the next two years. Carle hasn’t been approached about his limited no-trade clause.
“It’s not just our salary cap, it’s the team that you’re trying to make a deal with, too,” Yzerman said. “That’s what everybody doesn’t really understand. … It’s got to work for both teams. … It proves challenging for everyone.”
Yzerman on issuing the Steven Stamkos statement a couple weeks ago.
“I don’t think taking pressure off is why we did it,” Yzerman said. “Simply myself and ‘Stammer’ and (agents) Donnie Meehan and Mark Guy talked about it, and the reality is he’s not going to be traded. The sooner we said that, it could end all the speculation and Stammer doesn’t have to answer that question every day, and I think that just makes his life a little easier on a day-to-day basis.
“I’m not sure how much that (affected his play) — you have to ask Stammer — but he’s certainly been productive.”
Nick Goss of NESN: There are plenty of teams that are still interested in Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin.
“There’s a sense that maybe the finish line is in sight,” McKenzie said during Tuesday’s edition of “Insider Trading.” “Obviously, Steve Yzerman isn’t obliged to trade Drouin by Monday’s deadline, but there are more and more teams getting more and more interested as we get closer to that deadline.
“Right now, I would say there’s easily 10-plus teams (interested in Drouin), and the list I would suggest is growing because those teams sense that the finish line might be in sight. They’re putting their best foot forward to Steve Yzerman. Whether he pulls the trigger on Monday, we don’t know, but the offers that he’s getting would appear to be more numerous as we head toward that deadline.”
Hockey Buzz: The Blues, Jets and Rangers are among the teams interested in Jonathan Drouin.