After paying Bettmans bribe at the draft

yotes decline. no one is paying a 2nd+ to take drouin at the draft. just take his $5.5m into free agency.

I'm a believer that if you retain 50% on Drouin you can get a 1st for him. Not often you can get a 50 point player at a cap hit under 3 million. It also works for MTL because they only retain for a year of they choose to start getting rid of other, longer contracts 2023 off season

I like these deals, and I really like your draft picks. But I doubt Arizona are the ones buying a rental.

Arizona might for reasons of the 50% retention and that they have only 3 NHL forwards under contract next season and they'll need to sign or trade for at least 9 more. I realize they are in perpetual tank mode but they do have to dress a few players and meet the cap floor, and they may even figure that they could play him top line minutes, perhaps boost his value, and flip him for a better return in 2023. He is a pure skill player who struggles with pressure and spotlight, playing in a system, and playing with consistency. Fortunately, none of those things would be required of him in Arizona and it might be the only team he could sort of thrive on. I don't think its the craziest scenario. Nor is a 2nd round pick 3 years from now some sort of outrageous haul.

az will have no shortage of cap dump offers where they get picks instead of trade picks. if they try and flip him they risk an injury. there are better options out there for az.