Lightning GM Yzerman 'prepared to trade' Drouin

General manager Steve Yzerman said Saturday he would trade forward Jonathan Drouin only to make the Tampa Bay Lightning better, not to satisfy his trade request.

"I am prepared to trade him, but any deal that I make has to be what I consider a good deal for the Tampa Bay Lightning," Yzerman told CBC. "We drafted Jonathan third overall (in the 2013 NHL Draft), we drafted him third overall for a reason and believe that he is going to be a very good hockey player in this League, and I still believe he is going to be a very good hockey player in this League, so it's important for our organization that we make a trade that we get equal value so to speak, and you can measure that in a lot of different ways.

"Jonathan has been told he won't be traded to make him happy. It'll be something that is good for the Tampa Bay Lightning."

Drouin, 20, is playing for Syracuse of the American Hockey League after he was demoted last Saturday after a trade request made in November became public. In his first game with Syracuse, he had two goals in a 6-4 loss to Albany on Friday. He did not have a point in a 4-2 win against Hershey on Saturday.

Drouin had six points (one goal, five assists) in his first five games this season but missed 19 games because of injuries and has two points in his past 14 games.

Yzerman said the assignment was not a punishment for the trade request but rather to give ice time to a player who has appeared in one NHL game since Dec. 10.

"We wanted Jonathan to play and play a lot, and that was the sole purpose [of sending him to Syracuse]," Yzerman said. "As it comes out after, he had asked to be traded, but again we had just strictly done it, not officially on a conditioning assignment, but it really was a conditioning assignment to go down and play."

Drouin had four goals and 28 assists in 70 games as a rookie last season. He did not have a point playing in six of the Lightning's 26 games in the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Yzerman, speaking to the "Hockey Night in Canada" pregame show, offered no update on contract negotiations with captain Steven Stamkos, who can become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

"When we started the process with Steven and [his representatives], we said that we would keep it out of the media, that we would refrain from giving daily, weekly, monthly updates on the situation," Yzerman said. "It really serves no purpose. Steven has come out publicly and said that he wants to remain with the Lightning and hopes we can work out a deal and that he wins a Stanley Cup as the captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning. That's what we want as well, and we will continue to work towards that."