The Power of Stoicism

(Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times via AP)

By Michael Wax

It’s 2016. A disgruntled young forward lets the Lightning know that he has no interest in playing for them and requests a trade. After some time, the Lightning acquiesce and deal this forward to a Canadian team in exchange for a package centered on a high-upside prospect. 

Now it’s 2025. A disgruntled young forward lets the Lightning know that he has no interest in playing for them and requests a trade. After some time, the Lightning acquiesce and deal this forward to a Canadian team in exchange for a high-upside prospect. 

Funny how life works out sometimes, huh?

It's interesting to notice the parallels between Jonathan Drouin and Isaac Howard. Both highly touted prospects were highly hyped and seen as the missing piece in a Lightning forward group that could use a spark. Now, obviously, their trajectories were in different places at the time. At the time of his trade request, Drouin was in the middle of his second professional season and his third season since getting drafted. Howard, meanwhile, had stayed in the NCAA  for the 2 years after his draft selection and had yet to turn pro.

But this isn’t about them. Really, it’s not about the returns the Lightning got either, although Mikhail Sergachev was crucial in back-to-back Stanley Cups, and Sam O’Reilly just accomplished the triple MVP (MVP, OHL playoff MVP, and Memorial Cup MVP). This is about the stoicism shown by Steve Yzerman and his protege, and current GM, Julien BriseBois. 

Think about how easy the other path would’ve been. Jonathan Drouin initially made his trade request in November of 2015 (and publicly announced it on January 3rd, 2016). The Lightning were 19-16-4, sitting 2 points out of a playoff spot. The trade deadline was a little more than two months away. The easy move would’ve been a rush trade to give Drouin what he wanted, to send him to another team and try to improve the team for the stretch run. Instead, Yzerman sent the young, talented forward to AHL Syracuse, would later need to suspend Drouin, and made the Lightning’s stance very clear:

“I’ve told both Jonathan and his agent (Alan Walsh): We will trade him if and when we can make a deal that is good for the Tampa Bay Lightning,” Yzerman said to Erik Erlendsson on January 21, 2016.

Yzerman would sit on the trade request for over a year and a half, even giving Drouin the opportunity to build himself back up through the 2016 playoffs and the 2016-17 season. When the time was right, Yzerman dealt the now-RFA Drouin to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for promising young defenseman Mikhail Sergachev and a draft pick.

Fast forward to 2025. Lightning fans are clamoring for the debut of their 2022 1st round pick, Isaac Howard. As the NCAA season went along, and it became more evident that Howard was the frontrunner for the Hobey Baker Award, the idea of the Lightning getting a shot in the arm right before the playoffs was on everyone’s mind. But that call to the big leagues never came. As the days went by, and the entry-level contract (ELC) was never signed, it became evident that something was wrong. Howard was prepared to play his senior year at Michigan State, let his rights expire, and the Lightning would be left with only a 2nd-round pick.

“When I chatted with Isaac, he was pretty candid, and I appreciated his honesty, and I thank him for his honesty,” BriseBois told Diandra Loux of The Hockey News on May 3, 2025. “He values the opportunity to choose the club that he believes is the best fit for him. And I won’t speak for him, but he values that. Right now, I would say it’s unlikely that we will sign him.”

A few months later, BriseBois found a trade partner in the Edmonton Oilers. In a 1-for-1, BriseBois landed 2024 1st-rounder Sam O'Reilly, who just went out and had one of the most decorated junior seasons in recent memory.

It's tempting to look at "young star wants out, Lightning fleece a Canadian team anyway" happening twice in a decade and chalk it up to good fortune. But fortune doesn't repeat itself on command. Process does. Temperament does. The same calm hand that turned Drouin into Sergachev turned Howard into O'Reilly, and the consistency of the outcome tells you it was never an accident.

This will more than likely happen again at some point. Emotions rise, and tempers flare. But the Lightning fanbase shouldn’t panic. The team has shown twice now that they'll let you walk out the door and somehow end up better for it. It’s not magic. It’s stoicism. And in a league built on raw emotion, it might just be Tampa Bay's most underrated competitive advantage.