Jonathan Drouin to report to AHL as Lightning lift suspension

The Tampa Bay Lightning lifted their suspension of forward Jonathan Drouin on Monday. According to the Lightning, Drouin reported to their AHL affiliate and will practice with the Syracuse Crunch Tuesday.

Drouin, the No. 3 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft, has been suspended by the Lightning since Jan. 20 for a “failure to report” to Syracuse.

According to NHL.com’s Dan Rosen, Drouin had to report by Monday in order to be eligible to play in the Calder Cup playoffs.

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Drouin had three points in seven AHL games this year. In 19 games this season with Tampa had had two goals and six assists.

Drouin demanded a trade from the Lightning in November and the team sent him to Syracuse in early January. Following seven games in Syracuse, Drouin opted to not play until he was traded.

After the Lightning were unable to unload Drouin by the Feb. 29 NHL trade deadline, general manager Steve Yzerman said the door was open for the 20-year-old winger to return to the Tampa organization, though Yzerman also said he preferred to wait until the summer to better gauge his trade options.

"At this time, my feeling was, if it's not going to help me now, I'm better off keeping my options this summer," Yzerman said after the trade deadline. "What we were looking for wasn't there today. Anything that would involve future draft picks or prospects at this time, it didn't make sense to do that. We'll have more certainty, more clarity on the salary cap and make a decision at that time."

Drouin has been practicing at home since the suspension. Recently it was reported Drouin had burnt an entry-level year off his contract, which could make him less attractive to teams trying to trade for him.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper