Jonathan Drouin is still a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
But it was certainly not for a lack of trying by Bryan Murray and his staff during yesterday’s trade deadline day.
Despite rumours early in the day that the Senators were “out of it”, Murray confirmed that he did indeed go back to Steve Yzerman on a couple of occasions throughout the day to see if there was a deal to be made- to find out if Yzerman had given up on the dream of adding an important piece for this season.
No such luck for the Senators.
As we’ve mentioned on this site a few times in the last month or so, Ottawa was very much in the thick of it the whole way.
The difference being that the package they were offering was a little bit more geared toward the future rather than on sending a key roster player to Tampa Bay. In speaking with Ian Mendes after yesterday’s deadline, Murray confirmed that they had talked to Tampa Bay about one of Colin White or Thomas Chabot. I also heard Andreas Englund’s name kicked around at one point but not sure if there was anything to that.
In the end, the 3:00 PM deadline came and went and Drouin remained a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning. And while Yzerman has indicated they would allow Drouin to return to the organization down the stretch, it really doesn’t seem like Drouin has any plans to do so.
So the focus now shifts to the summer when you can be certain Bryan Murray will once again reach out to Yzerman to see what it would take.
And it may also be worth noting- Jonathan Drouin can still be traded after the deadline, he just wouldn’t be eligible to play in the playoffs.
Game Day post coming in a little bit.
-The Shane Prince trade was a predictably polarizing one for the fan base. Prince had shown flashes of being a productive player here in Ottawa but never could do quite enough to win over the Coaching staff and earn a regular spot in the lineup. Considering some of the prices paid on deadline day, a 3rd round pick isn’t bad especially since it was pretty clear Prince was not in their plans beyond this season. Hopefully Prince has a chance to show what he can do with the Islanders. Matt Puempel has been called up from Binghamton to take Prince’s spot on the roster.
