Fourth-line help?

With Eric Perrin off to the Thrashers, seems as if Tampa Bay is trying to find some insurance for the fourth line beyond rookie Blair Jones and hip-challenged Tim Taylor, signing free agent left wings Craig MacDonald and Mathieu Darche to one-year, two-way contracts at the league minimum $475,000.

Likely they will start in AHL Norfolk, but both will be in training camp, so we'll see how that fourth-line competition goes. Remember, Tampa Bay also has the option of dropping Andreas Karlsson from a slotted third-line wing position to fourth-line center.

MacDonald, 6-foot-1, 195 pounds, has played in 160 career NHL games with Carolina, Florida, Boston, Calgary and Chicago, recording eight goals and 22 points.  He spent last season in the Blackhawks’ organization, skating in 25 games in Chicago while playing 50 games for the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, where he served as captain.  MacDonald, 30, scored three goals and recorded two assists with Chicago and tallied 15 goals with 40 points in Norfolk.  MacDonald finished the season in Norfolk with a plus-9 rating, six power-play goals and four shorthanded goals.

“Craig is a veteran player with significant NHL experience who will be given every opportunity to make our hockey team,” GM Jay Feaster said. “He is a high-character guy who plays hard and competes every shift. He has very good hockey sense, is responsible defensively, is good on draws and is strong on his skates. He does all of the little things it takes to win hockey games and that makes him a good fit for us. He is also a leader at the AHL level and is exactly the kind of depth player we need to continue adding to our organization. We look forward to having him compete for a spot on our roster in camp.”

A native of Antigonish, Nova Scotia, MacDonald is a veteran of 313 AHL games, recording 76 goals and 221 points in seven seasons with New Haven, Lowell, San Antonio, Omaha and the Admirals.  He also spent two seasons with Cincinnati of the IHL where he played in 160 games and tallied 32 goals and 84 points. MacDonald played collegiate hockey at Harvard, appearing in 66 games in two seasons with the Crimson, totaling 13 goals and 33 points.  He was originally drafted by Hartford in the fourth-round, 88th overall, in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.

Darche, a 6-1, 220-pound Montreal native, skated in 76 games with Worcester of the AHL and two games with the San Jose Sharks in 2006-07. The 30-year-old tallied 35 goals, 45 assists and 80 points with Worcester, leading the team in all three categories while finishing tied for sixth in goals and seventh in points in the AHL. In 436 AHL games with Syracuse, Milwaukee, Hershey and Worcester, Darche has recorded 162 goals and 342 points. He led Milwaukee in goals (28) in 2003-04 as he helped the Admirals capture the Calder Cup.

In 28 career NHL games with Columbus, Nashville and San Jose, Darche has recorded a goal and an assist. Before being signed as a free agent by Columbus in 2000, he played four seasons at McGill University in the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union, leading the league in scoring in 1999-2000 with 72 points in 33 games.

“Mathieu is a prolific scorer and outstanding playmaker at the AHL level, and will get a chance to compete for a spot on our roster in camp,” Feaster said. “He has great vision and very good hands and he shows excellent poise with the puck. He works hard and competes consistently, and he continues to post big numbers at the minor league level. We simply don't have enough quality veteran depth players like Mathieu in our organization, and we are very pleased Mathieu recognizes the opportunity we present.

“Our scouting staff did an outstanding job identifying the depth players we wanted to target, and Claude Loiselle was relentless in pursuing good, solid contracts with both players. As a result, we are significantly better and deeper, organizationally, than we were prior to the start of free agency.”

Comments

[Tim A]

Sorry Mike13, but what is really is handcuffing the team right now, is the owner not willing to get up off of his purse! Our defense, as everyone has indicated, is crucial to our chances of winning. If the lightning don't do something soon It will be early t-times next summer too.

[Mike13]

What has hand-cuffed this franchise is ownership not willing to spend to the Salary Cap. Right now, there's a $6-million delta between the team budget and the Salary Cap. I'm pretty sure you can find a top-notch D-man for that kind of money.

A side note to Niki: NHL teams only play 3 defensive pairings, not 4. They play 4 forward lines.

[Bobby]

I'm sorry, but the Brad Richards signing has really handcuffed this franchise. We can't get any quality d-men with what we have to offer.

[MooDaddy]

You are all absolutely right! Where is the Big D?! I've already accepted the fact that we have to live with Denis another year. Ken Klee would have been a perfect vet defenceman to somewhat solidify the swiss cheese D that we have now. He's gone to Atlanta for 2 years 2.5 mil, more than in our price range. I'm not saying that I dislike these signings but we need to give Homer some help next year.

[Niki]

According to the current Lightning roster on tampabaylightning.com, the team has only five D-men currently signed for next season. I guess that works out as two lines plus a man spare to cover illness, injuries and suspensions. Man, those D guys are gonna be tired by the end of each game!

Assuming the team needs at least one additional D-man over and above the requirements for four lines to cover unforeseen events, the Lightning needs to sign four D-men before the start of the season. Based on the figures in yesterday's St Pete Times and adding in the cost of MacDonald and Darche, they have only $2.715 million left in the salary cap to play with - or $678,000 per player. To those who were, like me, hoping that we might get some experienced defense to prop up the shaky goaltending this season - forgeddit!

And to Danny Boyle - better start work on increasing those fitness levels now...

[Lightning rod]

Mr. Feaster: Defensive HELP if you please. I hope you have a plan. With shaky goal-tending, the defensive holes need to be filled.

[Tim A]

Wisely spend the money Jay...we have enough third and fourth liners that they will be stepping all over one another in the dressing room. Make some offers to some big time defenders! What we need is big defensive help in a bad way... the kind that hit and crash and grind and stike fear into anyone trying to cross the blue-line.

[Joe]

Hope I am wrong but these guys look like more fodder for the Bolt's AHL affiliate. Yet, even that's okay because these they both have some experience and probably could be called upon to fill in on a stop-gap basis.

Nan is, of course, correct. An
unmistakable hole is found on the Lightning blueline (maybe a few holes). JF, to ignore that reality is to miss seeing the forest but for the trees. And, at the risk of being monotonously repetitive, the Bolts also need a Cujo or an Eddie the Eagle in the crease to form a tandem with Holmer who would then likely develop nicely. Send Denis to room 1408!

[Nan]

I haven't been counting but isn't training camp looking to be more crowded than just holding it to 26 or 27 guys? It seems like we are up to 30 or so at least. And where are the Defense men hirings? I like these signings but Jay, hey we need some D!

[Mike13]

Yeah.