The future of superstars Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Drouin are concerns for the Tampa Bay Lightning franchise prior to the February 29 NHL Trade Deadline.
The third overall pick of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin, is a couple of months short of his 21st birthday. He produced 32 points in the 2014-15 campaign, his rookie year. This season, his point production has backslid considerably as he has only eight points within his first 19 games.
On Saturday, he was sent to the American Hockey League with the Syracuse Crunch, for more playing time and work on his game.
Now, his time appears to be coming to an end in Tampa, as Drouin wants a change of address.
According to Sportsnet, Drouin’s agent Allan Walsh has vocalized that his client would welcome a deal from the Sunshine State and has let the team know their intentions since November.
Jonathan Drouin’s agent requested trade from Lightning in November: https://t.co/qPtTlMuSnb pic.twitter.com/ckrY8EzaIk
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 3, 2016
Walsh is quoted as saying, “On behalf of Jonathan Drouin, I formally requested a trade from the Tampa Bay Lightning back in November. We have not said one word about this untenable situation publicly until today,” Walsh said in the statement. “It’s in everyone’s best interests that Jonathan be allowed to move on and play hockey.”
The direction of the Lightning organization is uncertain. The former 2008 first overall selection, Steven Stamkos, has been in the limelight enough. The possible unrestricted free agent, Stamkos is slated to test free agency on July 1, 2016. The Lightning management of GM Steve Yzerman, head coach Jon Cooper and Stamkos are uniting in saying the right things to the media. They are not throwing each other under the bus and cutting up the other individual. Stamkos went a step further and made a mistake earlier this season, when he accidentally liked a tweet from a Canadian sports network suggesting Stamkos should join his hometown team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.
If you compound the Stamkos’ concerns with Drouin, there are issues definitely with this franchise. GM Yzerman could probably fetch a pretty package back from any of the other 29 NHL hockey clubs if he were to deal one or both of these men.
The future appears to be mixed up for the Lightning franchise. The NHL Trade Deadline is February 29, 2016 and the spotlight will be focused on the team as these two players could be elsewhere as of the first of March.