The Bolts have broken up with Jonathan Drouin. 

Their roller coaster relationship is over and after all they've been through, the biggest questions are why and why now and why now?

We asked Erik Erlendsson, who has covered the Bolts for 16 years and run his own website LightningInsider.com

"Why you trade him now is because of the play you got in return, Mikhail Sergachev," said Erlendsson.  

"By all accounts, if you talk to the scouts, if you look at anything this kid has done since Montreal drafted him 9th overall last year.  He’s going to be a terrific defenseman in this league. It takes a talent like Jonathan Drouin to acquire that type of player."

In addition to Sergachev the Bolts get a conditional second round 2018 draft pick from the Montreal Canadiens and a conditional 2018 sixth round pick.

“The biggest reason was were getting a young defenseman that’s going to have an impact in the NHL for a long time," said Steve Yzerman.  "Whether that’s this year or two years from now.  Time will tell, but I think he’s going to be a good player in the league for a long time.”

But the Lightning traded production now, for potential.  Just 18 years old, they are hoping Sergachev develops into a top four defenseman, but right now he has just four NHL games under his belt.

"I played a lot in juniors and I earned a lot those two years," said Sergachev, who won the Memorial Cup with his OHL team Windsor.  "I feel like this is my time to play in the NHL."

"When we look three or four years down the road this might turn out to be a pretty even deal when it’s all said and done, but there is some definite short-term pain for Tampa," said Erlendsson.

But it won’t hurt them when it comes to payroll.  This move frees up cap space needed to sign other RFAs like Ondrej Palat and Tyler Johnson.

"If you look at the deal Jonathan Drouin signed with Montreal within in hours of this trade yesterday, at $5.5 million dollar cap hit per year over six years, I don’t know if Tampa was willing to do that," said Erlendsson.  

He went on to point out, especially because Drouin's new deal is more that the annual $4.7 million cap hit of All-Star Nikita Kucherov.

The salary cap, other RFAs, and the expansion draft all played a role in the Drouin deal, but the number one reason is because of the young defenseman they got in return.

Even if he is a few years away from contributing.