Bob McKenzie: The Montreal Canadiens signed Jonathan Drouin to a six-year contract with a $5.5 million salary cap hit.
Erik Erlendsson: Drouin’s deal amount with the Canadiens was likely a factor in the Lightning trading him. They would have had a hard time fitting that contract in to go along with new deals of Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat.
Pierre LeBrun: Drouin gets a no-trade clause in the final two years of his deal.
Eric Engels: Allan Walsh, Drouin’s agent, had been going back and forth with Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin on scenarios as soon as the deal was made.