from Chris Johnston of Sportsnet,

The second year of Jonathan Drouin’s entry-level contract will be burned off even if he doesn’t play another game this season, Sportsnet has learned.

Some around the NHL had wondered if the Tampa Bay Lightning might elect to try and toll the suspended forward’s contract, but deputy commissioner Bill Daly says they don’t have the option to do so.

“We haven’t previously had a practice of allowing clubs to toll partial season breaches,” Daly wrote Thursday in an email. “Had this been the last season of the contract, however, we may have entertained an argument for ‎some form of remedy or relief in this situation.”

As a result, any team that trades for Drouin will be acquiring him with one year left on his deal. Had it been tolled – the legal term for extending a contract when a player doesn’t satisfy its terms – the 20-year-old would arguably have been a more valuable asset since he’d be cost friendly for two more seasons.

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