Roblogg's Lightning Portal

Looks like the Tampa Bay Lightning managed to dump some more salary; by getting rid of RW Evgeny Artuykhin and his million dollar contract. In return the Bolts receive a nice third round pick in the 2010 draft from Anaheim and LW Drew Miller – who it happens – is on a two-way contract and could earn considerably less than aforementioned Artuykin most certainly will.

With Evgeny goes some considerable size, strength and raw power from Tampa Bay – something that Anaheim always seem to be on the look-out for. With Drew Miller they receive a player with some potential. The 25-year old Miller is a 6-foot-2, 185 pounds left winger, who has played in 53 NHL games so far in his career – all with the Ducks. He has so far managed 6 goals and 15 points in those games. General Manager Brian Lawton had this to say at the announcement of the deal:

"Drew finished the season nicely in Anaheim a year ago and he has played well for the Ducks in the postseason over his career. We’d like to thank Evgeny for his hard work in Tampa Bay and his diligence to improve as a player. We wish him all the best moving forward."

Evgeny’s crunching tackles may be missed by some, his salary by none, but with LW Todd Fedoruk already in line; the Bolts have a recognised enforcer on the team and could hence afford to let Artuykhin go. With the team still chasing a top six forward, namely LW Alex Tanguay, this move makes some sense when looking at the bigger picture. If Miller can go on and produce for the Bolts that is a welcome addition, but that is not why this trade was made. A salary dump – if there ever was one…

According to the St. Pete Times, the Tampa Bay Lightning are set to buy out the remaining three years on LW Vaclav Prospal‘s contract. Having had a poor last season, Vinny was third worst in the league with his minus 20 rating, yet he did play in every game for the Bolts (82) and was fifth on the team in scoring (19 goals and 26 assists). Considering this, and the fact that "Vinny" just bought himself a new house in the Tampa Bay area, the news must come as a bit of a shock to the Czech Republic native.

The Tampa Bay Lightning currently owe the 34-year old left winger some $10.5 million dollars in his three remaining years, but under the NHL rules the Bolts can buy him out for approximately $7 million – spread over the next six years. That would mean that the buyout would continue to weigh down the Bolt’s cap space with $1.17 million/year. Yet, it does present a cap and salary savings worth $2.33 million over the coming season.

"After fully evaluating our roster and our position in the salary cap world, we arrived at the decision to buy out Vaclav Prospal from his contract," GM Brian Lawton said in a statement. "We appreciate Vinny’s service to the Lightning, but in the best interest of the team, we believe a difficult decision needed to be made in this case, and we are going to move ahead without him. We wish Vinny all the best."

It seems like a move by the Lightning management that reeks of desperation. Yes, Prospal didn’t have a great last season, but in that he was not alone in Tampa Bay. It is a costly move, whilst making some savings, also loads future years cap space with a significant non-post. It also means that the Bolts suddenly don’t need to add just one, but two, top six forwards this off-season.

One can only hope this move signals that the Tampa Bay Lightning are ready to move on one of forwards Alex Tanguay or Petr Sykora – or why not both!? With the extra cap space now available – the odds of some such news coming in the next few days – can’t be all that high.

Nonetheless, it is a disappointing way to treat a veteran player that has played in three stints with the franchise and enjoyed considerable success along the way. Personally I’d have preferred to keep him for at least another season and give him a chance to redeem himself. With a stronger blueline to back up the forwards; players like Vinny could really come into their own, enjoy their hockey and be productive going forward instead of constantly back-tracking.
But, that’s just my opinion, what is yours?

Tampa Bay Lightning yesterday secured the signature of D Matt Smaby to a 2-year deal, thereby avoiding arbitration. Executive Vice President and General Manager Brian Lawton said at the announcement:

"We are pleased to announce this agreement with Matt today. He is big, physical and really skates well for a man that stands 6-foot-5 and 240 pounds. He played well for us last season and I expect his personal development to continue in 2009-10."

Indeed, Matt played some 43 games last season, averaging 19:05 of ice-time and recording 4 assists, ranking fourth in hits (122) and blocked shots (68), while spending 50 minutes in the penalty box. Overall in his career he has played in 57 NHL games, all with Lightning, in addition to 149 games in the AHL. The 24-year old Minneapolis, Minnesota native, was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round (#41st overall), in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

Now Smaby has finally received the one-way contract he craved; having previously turned down a two-way proposal from Tampa Bay and filed for arbitration, he can now look forward to the new season with some confidence and try to cement his spot on the Lightning roster. He will earn $500.000 the first year of the new contract and $550.000 next season.

The question that arises after this deal has been rubberstamped, and David Hale brought in from Phoenix, is who are the Bolts going to trade from the blueline? Having more depth than anyone could possibly need on the defensive corps now, one would expect Tampa Bay to be actively shopping at least one of their defenders; in order to make some space on an otherwise overcrowded roster.

Lucas Krajicek’s name has been tossed out previously in speculation and he could soon find himself the subject of renewed conjecture, but it is also possible that Lawton wants everyone pumped for the training camp, to compete for a limited number of roster-spots, and will hence wait until after this occasion to make up his mind who will have to leave.

Who do you think, if anyone at all, should leave?

The Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet is reporting that Canadian press now believe it’s a race between the Phoenix Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning to sign the star winger Alex Tanguay. Apparently the Florida Panthers, previously considered being in the drivers seat, are giving up on signing him.

The interest of Tampa Bay Lightning and Phoenix Coyotes has been widely reported these last few days. I previously dismissed the possibility of signing Tanguay, due to the high wages he’d be able to command, but things have changed since then. The deal between the Coyotes and Lightning; which brought Todd Fedoruk and David Hale here from Phoenix for Radim Vrbata, does now give the Bolts the necessary cap space to pursue a player of Tanguay’s caliber.

If the Bolts fail in luring Tanguay to Western Florida, they are likely to pusue former Penguins winger Petr Sykora instead. He may be the cheaper alternative, but also a top player that can rack up the points.

With either player it is likely to be the case of a one-year contract. The players could then look forward to playing on Tampa’s top line and then earn a bigger contract elsewhere next season…

Take this latest information for what it is – speculation – but as soon as anything more substantial comes along I’ll let you know…

On a sidenote, the same paper – this time using Russian sources, claims that winger Ilya Kovalchuk of the Atlanta Thrashers; is going to sign a new multi-year contract. The deal, if these sources are correct, will give him the maximum amount possible (20% of the teams total wages against the cap) and make him the best paid player in the NHL, beating Vincent Lecavalier, and he’d earn an estimated $11.36 million a year!

The Tampa Bay Lightning finally managed to off-load the heavy burden of RW Radim Vrbata’s $3 million/year, two-year contract, by trading him to the Phoenix Coyotes. In return the Bolts receive LW Todd Fedoruk and D David Hale.

"We are pleased to make a trade today that makes good sense for both teams," Lightning’s GM Brian Lawton said at the announcement of the trade. "Lightning fans will be pleased to see we have added some size and toughness up front with Todd, while David helps us continue to add depth to our blue line. At the same time, Radim moves back to Phoenix where he has experienced some success in the past."

Lawton had previously stated that RW Radim Vrbata had no future with the NHL club and would spend his time in the AHL if he decided to return to North America; after spending most of last season in his native Czech Republic. With his new club the 28-year old winger will be leaned upon for experience amongst a young squad. It will also provide the player with a life-line to resurrect his NHL career after the ill-fated stint in Tampa.

Joining the Lightning will be LW Todd Fedoruk, who is a tough-guy fourth liner that can do more than just get in to the occasional brawl. Last season he, apart from the five fights he was involved in (his lowest NHL career number), also put up some decent numbers; playing 72 games, scoring 6 times and assisting on 7, averaging 10:35 of ice-time.

The 30-year old, 6-foot-2 and 236 pound winger, will be looked upon for gritty play on a fourth or third line. He’s relatively expensive with a 2-year $2.175 million contract remaining, but still represents a substantial saving on Vrbata’s deal. The Redwater, Alberta native was selected in the 7th round (#164 overall) by the Flyers in 1997. He has to date played in 495 NHL games.

David Hale meanwhile, is a 6-foot-1 215 pound defenseman that will provide even more depth on the blueline for the Bolts. He has a 1-year $725.000 contract left, before it expires and he is set to become a free agent. Last season he played in 48 contests, scoring three times and assisting on 6 other occasions. He averaged some 15:08 of ice-time.

Hale was drafted in 2000 by the Devils in the first round (#20th overall) and the Colorado Springs native has to date played some 263 NHL games.

The Tampa Bay Lightning ownership question was settled on Friday, for the time being anyway, with Len Barrie producing the required guarantees to the NHL. Whether or not he had to cough up the rumored $10 million that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman wanted to see remains uncertain, but apparently the credit that Barrie produced was suitably comforting for the league, with deputy commissioner Bill Daly stating:

"We’re satisfied with where things stand, and things are moving forward." A sentiment echoed by Len Barrie himself. Hence, the ownership situation will remain effectively in status quo; Oren Koules is the CEO and governor of the team, but Barrie’s input is required on all major personnel decisions.

A new deadline has however been imposed on Len Barrie, according to the St. Pete Times, set for August the 3rd; when Barrie "apparently must come up with $3 million to repay a cash call he missed last season that co-owner Oren Koules apparently covered. Additionally, Bettman is wading through briefs and papers filed by both Barrie and Koules as they vie for ownership control".

So, in a nutshell; the ownership question of the Lightning’s franchise is temporarily resolved in its currently unresolved temporal state. Now that’s progress!

Road to Recovery

Meanwhile, goalie Mike Smith is slowly recovering from his terrible concussion syndromes that have kept him out of the game since the beginning of the year. Apparently he is now able to practice at full speed and will in the next fortnight be donning his skates for the first time in seven months, Slam! Sports reported on Saturday.

Fortunately the little black dots that was clouding his vision are gone, which should considerably help him in his job of trying to catch that one little black dot a goalie should focus on. Mike now has his sights firmly set on getting up to speed before the training camp and then for the coming campaign.

 Like many fans in Tampa Bay at the moment he’s delighted with the off-season moves made by the management and the possibility of being in a team that can challenge for a playoff spot:

“Now we have that big, tough defence that we lacked last year. Give credit to management, they assessed what was needed and got it done. We didn’t need scoring. We have scoring, we have firepower, but last year the forwards spent too much time in our end because the defence couldn’t get them the puck,” Smith say’s in the interview and in-depth article by Slam! Sports, (which I recommend as a good read for anyone interested in knowing how Smitty is doing. It also gives a further insight in what kind of wholehearted person/professional he really is).

The Tampa Bay Lightning are lucky to have Mike as their No.1 goalie, and together with newly signed Antero Niitymäki – the Bolts should have one of the best goaltending tandems in the league for the coming season.

And just how close is Smith on his road to recovery?

“I’m about 85% now,” he said. “I’m not there yet, but I’m close. I’ll be ready.”

And that’s news fans in Western Florida have been patiently waiting for….

The Tampa Bay Lightning today added two depth players, by signing C Blair Jones and RW Lauri Tukonen to one-year deals. Neither will however be expected to play in the NHL on a regular basis this coming season, but will rather play in the AHL – for the Bolts affiliate – the Norfolk Admirals.

Blair Jones will be used to playing for the Norfolk outfit, seeing as he played some 80 games for them last year, accumulating 20 goals and 34 assists in the process. The 22-year old centerman will perhaps have a genuine chance of breaking in to the Lightning line-up in the near future, but will most likely have to settle with more American Hockey League action.. The contract is for one-year after which both parties can review the progress made.

Finnish right winger Lauri Tukonen meanwhile, has also signed for one year. He was acquired by the organization in the Andrew Hutchinson deal from the Stars on November the 30th 2008. He was originally picked by the Los Angeles Kings as their 1st round pick (#11th overall) in 2004. He went on to play a mere 5 games for the Kings. Most of his time was spent with their farm team, the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL, were he played some 185 games – spread over 3 seasons. He never played for Dallas, who held his rights briefly, before being traded to the Bolts.

Last season he played for two teams in the Finnish SM-liiga; Ilves Tampere and Lukko Rauma With those outfits combined he picked up a total of 21 points in 35 games. The 22-year old has previously won two bronze medals with Finland in the World Junior Championships, in 2004 and 2006, and at the latter occasion he was named in the Media All-Star Team. Since then his career has stalled somewhat, but the Lightning’s will be hoping he can get it back on track with them. He will likely play in the AHL this coming season, and if suitably impressing; could get a genuine shot at making the step-up to the NHL as the season progresses.

Meanwhile there has been speculation as to whether the Bolts will pursue a big name top-six forward. The St. Pete Times have thrown out the names of some of the leading free agent wingers still available: Alex Tanguay, Miroslav Satan and Petr Sykora. And while Satan and Sykora are players that would fit the bill, speculation of Tanguay joining the Bolts are likely to be far wide of the mark. Tanguay has several interested parties and should be able to secure a much fatter paycheck from any of the other teams involved, than what the Bolts can afford – seeing as they already have a Cap size that needs to be kept under control.

Satan and Sykora however could come cheaper, but it’s still questionable if the Bolts can afford either or if they’d even be interested in coming here in the first place. A more prudent strategy for Lightning’s GM Brian Lawton, would be to go the trade route for offensive reinforcements. Tampa Bay have depth in the defensive department, from which to deal, and also have several young players on the verge of breaking through to the NHL, that might entice some other teams to give up a top six talent.

This is of course all speculation, but Lawton will need to do some wheeling and dealing before the season starts anyway, so adding more paychecks – without unloading any – doesn’t make too much sense in the present climate.