The drama-rich story of Jonathan Drouin‘s 2015-16 season will have at least one more chapter.
Months after requesting a trade and being demoted to the American Hockey League, the Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled Drouin with just two games remaining in the team’s regular-season schedule. The estranged forward was welcomed back to practice with stick-taps from his teammates.
“I’m just here to help the team, help the guys clinch home ice,” Drouin told reporters after his first Lightning practice of 2016.
READ MORE: Why Tampa needs to bring back Drouin
If Drouin remains on the big club’s roster through Saturday, he will burn the second year of his entry-level deal, bringing him one season closer to unrestricted free agency.
Drouin and defenceman Matt Taormina were brought up from the Syracuse Crunch in advance of Thursday’s game in New Jersey, while defenceman Slater Koekkoek was reassigned to Syracuse.
After a lengthy holdout while he awaited a trade that never materialized, the 21-year-old Drouin has put up 11 goals and 13 points with the farm team, including nine goals in his last nine games.
“He’s played very well. You see the stat sheet, the goals,” Yzerman told reporters on Saturday. “You love his attitude, his work ethic.”
Drouin skated Thursday on the second line alongside Alex Killorn and Vladislav Namestnikov as well as the power-play unit.
The Ste-Agathe, Que., native has appeared in 19 games with the Lightning this season, posting a pair of goals and eight points. The third-overall draft choice in 2013 requested a trade in November and was sent down to Syracuse in January.
The skilled winger sat out Syracuse’s game Sunday with a lower-body injury but returned to practice this week.
Tampa has secured a playoff berth but has been hit hard with injuries just days before the post-season begins. The Lightning have dropped two straight games.
Captain and top goal-scorer Steven Stamkos is out one to three months with a blood clot while top-pair defenceman Anton Stralman is sidelined with a fractured leg. Victor Hedman (upper body) and Ryan Callahan (lower body) are both questionable to return before next week.
Taormina, 29, has skated in one game with the Lightning this season and is tied for first among all Crunch defencemen with 41 points. He leads all Syracuse defencemen in goals (13) and power-play goals (five).
