It was a simple reality that the Tampa Bay Lightning were going to have to move someone that was owed a big contract this summer. The general consensus was that it would be either Tyler Johnson or Jonathan Drouin. Johnson because he was deemed replaceable by Braydon Point. Drouin because it was believed he’d ask for too much money.
And we were right, Drouin asked for and got $5.5M/year for six years from the Montreal Canadiens, a price tag that Yzerman did not want to pay for Drouin’s production.
My best guess at what Steve Yzerman wanted to sign Drouin for was around $4 to $4.