Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Drouin to the Detroit Red Wings?

Steven Stamkos will sign an eight-year contract extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning matching dollar-for-dollar the $84 million deals signed by Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews…then immediately be traded to the Detroit Red Wings along with Jonathan Drouin just before the trade deadline.

Faced with the prospect of losing him for nothing, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman will orchestrate a “sign-and-trade” deal for Stamkos with the Red Wings that will allow Stamkos to go to the team of his choice and get an eight-year deal, getting around the seven-year deal he would have had to sign with Detroit if he were to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer. The price for Stamkos and Drouin will be steep – sniper Gustav Nyquist, a pair of 24-year-old pending restricted free agents in Riley Sheahan and Alexey Marchenko, along with top prospect Anthony Mantha and the Red Wings first-round pick in 2016 and 2017. Stamkos will immediately go back to his center position, moving the aging Pavel Datsyuk down to a checking role more suited to him on the third line.

It's an extremely heavy price for the Red Wings to dole out to be sure, but they would guarantee two very talented forwards with long term control on their roster. However how realistic a trade of this level within the same conference is remains to be seen.

[pub]