Give the kids a try

As we read in today's paper, the Lightning has decided, barring trades, to try and fill the last of its top six defensive positions with an internal competition. That means two things. It not only gives players such as Dan Jancevski, Jay Leach, Dave Schneider, Bryce Lampman, Matt Smaby and Vladmir Mihalik a huge opportunity. It also puts on hold negotiations with any free agents such as Nolan Pratt, Doug Janik or Jassen Cullimore. In fact, with the forwards and goaltenders set, it puts a hold on all free-agent shopping.

There are several layers to this, of course:

Camp: The original plan was to have 26 players in camp. Now, coach John Tortorella said, there will be 33.

Financial: With $42.34-million of the ownership-allowed $44-million payroll already spent, and with forward Ryan Craig still unsigned, things are a bit tight. If the team can find a defenseman internally, his contract will pay the league minimum $475,000 or a tick more, considerably less than the asking prices of, say, Pratt and Cullimore. Just a note on Janik, whose agent, Stephen Bartlett said does not have an issue with compensation, rather the Lightning's wish to sign him to a two-way contract that would pay less if Janik were assigned to the minors.

Growing your own: Because of such salary constraints, the Lightning, Tortorella said, better get used to developing its own talent instead of spending higher to buy. "We cannot continue to just go out and sign free agents, not with our payroll restrictions,'' he said. "This is an opportunity to take a longer look and what we have here and maybe develop from within.''

The question, then, becomes, who steps up after the top five of Dan Boyle, Paul Ranger, Shane O'Brien, Filip Kuba and Brad Lukowich? While the competition should be lively, it seems Jancevski, 26, signed as a free agent and a horse last season for AHL Hamilton, might be the front-runner going into camp. Feaster said he has confidence in all the kids. "That's why we either signed them as free agents, or acquired them via trade or drafted them,'' he said.

There's more on this in today's story.      

A final note: I'll be taking the next 10 days off which is why the blog will have no new entries from me. But just a word of congratulations to you guys who keep coming back. The past two weeks this blog was the fifth most popular among all blogs at the St. Petersburg Times. The news shocked my bosses, especially because we aren't even in-season. I told them hockey fans are passionate that way. Anyway, just wanted to express my thanks for your interest. 

Comments

[Mike13]

Any updates on Craig's arbitration situation? Is he really going, or is Jay trying to get something done?

[bear]

MB..best line of the month, the Barnum and Baily Bolts.

Got to love the Richards apologists, they never quit.

The guy has never been in a corner that he didn't hate and the new guy they got to play with him, Ouelette, is even worse.

So who will be doing the grunt work that makes or breaks a game? (Modin you say, we wish).

That Richards line will be even worse plus/minus next season, if that's possible. Who cares how many goals Ritchie gets if he gives it back with change at the other end?

Marty on the other hand throws his pint size body in there on the wall and comes up with the puck non stop. Room service for Vinny.

At 5 mill he is gold.

[mb]

found a site on espn that lists the off season free agent winners and losers......they had up neutral and down.....we were in the lower part of the neutral catagory.....17th out of 30 teams.....last line of article.....still a team that should compete for a playoff spot......ok gang...is the glass half full or half empty????

[mb]

great site on the salary caps...i will use that for any "quotes" going forward....i was using jagr's salary cap number when i wrote a few weeks back....but my error...the difference still is like 700k...no big chunk of money...but the real difference is the 44 versus 50 mil that they will spend.....so the new figure is nyr have 6.7 mil to spend to fill out their roster versus us.....huge difference still.....they spent 4.75 mil i believe on their all-star goalie....leaving another 2 million more than we have to spend...i think the highest free agent we spent on was lukowich or gratton at like 1.6 or 1.7 mil.....we were never really in the mix for any top 25-35 free agents available and that is dissappointing for a team that finished where we did.....like I said couldof wouldof shouldof......but won't!!!!

[Fred]

Mike-good to see that we're on the same page about Arty. Love the analysis of Marty, too. I think that management is trying hard to find another Marty or two in the likes of guys like Ward and even Oullet; two guys who were underappreciated by their former teams. If we can't grow them down on the farm we'll have to gamble with players like them since management can't (or won't) pony up the big money. I hate to revisit my Rangers comment (I swear I'm not a Rangers fan), but here goes. As you said, the Rangers have blown way too much money on marquee players before. This time they got smart and added a great goalie to the mix. I hope that one of our goalies steps up this year so our Big 3 aren't always playing catch-up. As for my cap #'s, I used http://www.nhlnumbers.com/index.html for my Bolts/Rangers Big 3 salary comparison.

[mike b]

i had to write this one last thing....oops forgot last time.....when it comes down to brad and vinnie.....i really believe this with all my heart......whoever gets marty is the real winner.......look in the dictionary for hockey player......and you see a picture of marty st. louis......the guy is awesome......his ability to skate and open the ice makes whoever he plays with that much better.....he is a tireless worker.....he is a great back checker......he has a great shot.....and he is unselfish and humble to the core.....if we had 6 marty st. louis we would win the cup every year....i love the guy......i think vinnie and brad should take him out to dinner every night......i only wish he was 28!!!!!pound for pound one of the all time great hockey players to ever lace em up.....

[mike b]

i only thru arte's name in there as i was trying to match salary of maybe 3 guys versus salary of brad.....arte isn't anything more than probably a good third line player or maybe even fourth ....he has never shown the ability to score at any level...even in russia.....i was really just trying to say....i think we would be better off with three very good hockey players versus a huge salary of a top 25 hockey player.....we aren't short on all-stars....we are very short on role players.....v-e-r-y...everytime i read the paper i say what some of you are saying.....these guys are barnum and bailey with what they say......bull bull and more bull....do they really believe this team is ready for a run at the cup????i guess they "have" to say it publicly but you sure wonder about their sanity behind close doors...... comment on the rangers and our similiar situations......ranger cap hit is about 2 million less than our big 3 versus their big 3....add that to the fact that they spend 6 million more than us.....the net is... we both have a huge first line......but they are spending 8 million more on role players and goalie......that is why the ranger argument doesn't work with me......8 milliion is two good nhl forwards and one very good nhl defensemen......back full circle...we sign those guys and no one is crying or bellyaching....not me for sure.....but won't happen.....last thoughts on richards and his "poor year"....was it???......i believe richards scored as many points as chris drury.....very close.......and drury played with daniel briere and maxim afinighesov..sp?.. richards had st. louis taken away from him...and modin.....perrin and ward ain't st. louis and modin......richards is a victim of his own salary.....no one to spread the wealth to......put marty back with brad for 80 games and then he will be perfectly fine......but, who does vinnie play with then???i think that all the switching proved to me was that vinnie is better than brad....but brad with some good players is a pretty darn good player himself.....let's put it this way.....brad richards is a heck of a better player today than chris drury.....and druy is older by like 3 years....and brad richards mentally had to be d-r-a-i-n-e-d...with the linemates he had.... he was battling uphill all year....could you imagine if drury and brad were switched last year....i don't think drury would of got 7 million....in fact i am 99.9% sure of it ...put brad with briere and maxim and wow does he light up espn every night......rangers are always signing the big name versus doing smart hockey...and hockey sites around the world criticized them for their crazy spending....jay's cousin must be the gm for new york.....just kidding!!!..BUT...capital BUT... they have 8 million more to surround their mistakes.........we don't....i am going to print that again....we don't... ..last thought on the owners....i think for the most part they did pony up with money over last two years.....i will go down dying and swinging that jay feaster just spent it all very very wrong....he took the good ole american way.....headlines versus substance....but the owners in a small city can't lose 15 million before the season ever starts......only one solution......get an owner who only wants to win and can except losing 10 million per year.......those are tough guys to find........but I hope they do as i think every team in the nhl....including us.....takes two steps backwards everytime they raise the cap and we "have" to lag behind....someone on a new york blog said the cap did exactly what the nhl wanted....it made the big franchises stronger and the little franchises weaker......think about it......he might have hit it on the head.......but go full circle......this can not be what the nhl really wants....small cities that can't compete gets them right back to where they were before the strike...not good for anyone....see ya!!!

[Lightning rod]

I remember when Marty had an off year, after he got the big salary/contract that he deserved. At the time, I wondered if he could or would rebound. He did.

Richards had an off year, after he got his big contract, and this is the year we will find out if he can/will rebound. Does anyone think that the Lightning would have won THE CUP without Richards? Isn't he the guy that got a couple of awards, for his performance during year and THE CUP run? If Richards had waited and taken the arbitration route, what do you think he would have been awarded, given his history. The Lightning did what they had to do, in order keep Richards. If he had not had an off year, would any of this discussion be going on? I really do not think so. Why should Richards' situation be viewed any differently than Marty's or Vinny's for that matter?

Vinny has more natural talent, but there were times, when I questioned whether or not he could or would take it to the next level. He did last year, and I hope that he has matured enough to keep it up. Last year, Vinny was finally willing to pay the price to become a great hockey player. In prior years, there were times when I was disgusted with Vinny's play, as it was obvious to me that he not willing or mentally tough enough to give 100% day in day out. I saw a different Vinny last year, and he appears to now understand mental toughness is a big part of the game.

Richards needs to rebound this year. We will all see, if he has the mental toughness to pay the price to become a better and/or great player. To me, that is the main question, as it was with Marty and Vinny.

[Fred]

Mike, I had to agree with you right up until you threw Arty's name into the ring. If we are going to seriously criticize Feaster for throwing too much money at Richards then we can't consider paying more than the 600K + that Arty was offered. Arty has not proven anything at the NHL level and sat out a good portion of his season in the RSL last year for the same reason he sat here: bad judgement and so-so production. Check out the salaries for the Rangers this year; they are paying pretty much the same amount to their "big three". They also have a bigger albatross of a contract then we have in Denis when you look at Kasparaitis. The difference is that they actually have a goalie. (Which bugs me to death because I HATE the Rangers!) Pay attention, Uncle Feaster.

[bear]

Mike, IMHO your assessment is truly bang on. It is a business and no way they spend 50 mill . Even if they wanted to.. all the impact free agents/goalies are long gone.

If I ran this team and wanted to be here long term, I would see the writing on the wall and not pretend to be a contender.They assuredly are not with or without Vinny and Marty.

Trading Marty is the only thing that makes sense because Vinny is the franchise and Richards is not within 3 million of being worth his money.

We can say trade Marty but he has a say in it with his no trade clause.

Trade him where he wants to go and get a very good young D or Goalie back and a maybe a pick. Do the same with Boyle at the trade deadline and maybe the fall to the bottom won't be as drastic.

Does any one think that Boyle will be making his decision just on money?? He has a say too.

What managment continues to do though is sell this team as a contender as long as possible. THey must be well aware that the alternative will not support a business model in Tampa.

So then what of their do nothing strategy?

Could it be they just want to milk the season ticket Rubes for one more year then sell the franchise?

Just askin.

[mb]

if if if....everyone is right if they would spend....but they won't...which leads to the reality of my blog.....in a perfect world......another city...another owner...this would be a no brainer......as it is we have no depth.....our stars will have no legs by the allstar break....and God forbid an injurty to vinnie or st louis....look at the flip side of what i am trying to say......few teams would be so devastated by the injury of one star player.......that is where we are at.....no depth means no one to roll over to a top line....and then it trickles down....hopefully makes sense.....speaking of boyle???.....considering all that we have read and done.....how do we ever resign him????same argument as before....if if if.....but reality is we will probably lose him.....watch this blog if we lose boyle next year....how do you replace 28 minutes of all-star hockey a night....and if you pay him.....that means even less for the remaining roster spots....the budget creates quite a chicken or egg conversation......many months ago my first reaction was that holding on to the big 3 no matter what the cost would kill our "team"....for me that has played out sadly....our top line can probably play with any in the world.....pretty fair statement....our 2nd line...we will see....last year even with richie on it....they were horrible plus minus.....remember richards and prospal played most of the year together and their plus/minus was like 480 out of 540 players....don't quote me on that, but i know i am close in making my point.....the third line and well....at the end of the year we had no fourth line....i keep saying this.....they are three of the top probably 20 players in the league....i agree 110% with everyone on thie blog......but the net effect of their contracts has seriously crippled the rest of the team..........WITH the hand we are dealt in tampa bay......it is a chicken or the egg thing.....but management....like alot of small cities just simply aren't going to go into the year knowing they can not even break even no matter how successful they are.....would you do that in your business????....heck no......so the chicken goes right back to laying an egg.......with what we have, we have about 15 million that we are allowed to spend on about 14 guys.........and that is why we have a roster full of minimum wage 26 year old rookies and european diamonds in the ruff ruff ruff .....competition is good if the coaches are saying...i do not look forward to cutting two of these guys because they can all play....i think our scenario is more like.....i hope we can find two of these 8 stiffs that can play 8 minutes a night....big big difference....hopefully you agree... if tomorrow we all wake up and read "lightning management willing to spend 50 million"....this whole blog,not just me.....starts singing in the streets.......but with the hand we have been dealt.....we are going to need some crafty card players.....and vinnie, marty richie and boyle......might be know as the "marathon men" with all the minutes they will "need" to play this year...also i might add.....how we going to sign prospal....at 1.9 million the guy is going to have his last shot at serious money.....he ain't staying either.......going back to the big 3 question and money.....for everyone out there.....would you rather resign boyle prospal and artechukin...or keep brad richards.....that might be the choice one mr jay feaster has to deal with at this time next year....my feeling is every other GM in hockey knows we are up against a wall with our "payroll issues" and somehow jay needs to orchestrate some block buster trade to get us back to "zen" ......here are my thoughts though for the "record"...........
brad is untradeable because 7.8 million reasons....vinnie...how could you ever face the media the morning you traded vinnie after the year he had???......marty......the straw that stirs the drink....and the least paid of the big 3....by far.......at 5 million we could trade him tomorrow....but how could we get anyone that cheap back........so round and round we go......play the hand you are dealt......no more ifs ands or butts.......we are stuck in this revolving jam for two more years....hopefully jay won't be around when we get some new possibilities.....just my opinion....whew i can't wait to go to brandon and see the boys skating soon!!!!!my frustration with our "team" needs to be eased with a cool bud lite for 8.50 and some power play goals by the boys!!!!

[Steve]

The salaries of the big 3 clearly are handcuffing the Lightning, especially since all 3 are forwards. Not to have a premium salary player(s) on your defense and/or goaltending is a weakness, and they'll have to get Boyle under contract in 2008. The Lightning were almost forced to sign Lecavalier, St. Louis, and Richards due to unfortunate timing and CBA issues, although I still think they way overpaid for Richards, and it's bit ironic that we can't afford a decent winger to put with Richards due to his salary. When you look at the Stanley Cup champions and how their salary distribution worked it was mainly on defense and goaltending, that coupled with a nice mix of your forwards developed through their system won them a Stanley Cup. Even if the Bolts were to spend to the cap, they are still overweighted on salary up front. Until this changes we will continue to HOPE the goalie situation improves, HOPE we found a winger for Richards and HOPE that we can develop our young players if we are going to have greater success, that's a lot of hoping for me. Hopefully it will work out.

[Mike13]

Mike Babnik, I am usually with ya' man, but we are at opposite ends of the spectrum on the salary our big 3 are paid. I agree with Jared, they deserve what they are being paid. Richards may be slightly overpaid by about a million, but not by much.

While last season it was, the problem is no longer their salary. The problem this year, and I have said this over and over, is the owner's unwillingness to spend up to the salary cap.

With the $6-million+ more budget, we could sign Boyle to an extension AND still bring in a prime time scorer for the second line.

[JB]

None of this is going to matter much if we get the kind of goaltending we got last year. Cross your fingers, because that's the only thing Feaster has done to address our biggest concern.

[phrancois]

Pitkanen is the guy Philly took with our pick to get Feds.
He hasn't proved to be very durable and I hear from Flyers folks he hits and likes to get hit about as much as Brad Richards.

I'll be very happy if one of our young guys has completely had it with the bus rides in the AHL, sticks here after Camp Torturella, and goes out and sticks it to some opposing forwards.

The steaks taste great when the goalies are buying.

Go Bolts!

had to throw this out to the gang.....headline tonite....jani??pitkanen signed today for 2.4 million....this kid has been in the nhl for 3 years and is only 24 years old....he was named to the finland olympic team last year....but injured his groin and missed it.....somehow i think this blog would be full of nothing but glowing statements if the headline would of read.....lightning sign pikkanen ....instead of oilers do.....and our headlines are lightning are going with 1 of 6 kids who have never played in the nhl and a few of them are like 24-26 yrs old....everyone hates steinbrenner but i sure would trade him for davidson ....at least for the next 6-8 weeks.....p.s. lightning management....this kid would have been awesome and we still would have been about 4.5 to 5 mil under the cap!!!!darn

[Joe]

Hey Mike Babnik...Amen and Right On!

[mike babnik]

i read the last blog......i never questioned the ability of any of the big 3.....but in a salary cap world you can not have 3 of the top 10-15 players in the league.....and last year they were like 3 of the top 10.....the net of that.....any many critics nationwide said it the day after richards signed....how will the lightning ever fill out their roster??....i posted a interview that i watched two years ago where i guy on hockey night in canada said....the lightning will have to sign at least 6 minimum wage players to fill out their roster and they will lose kubina and modin.....that guy was a fricking genius....no sport depends on the depth of the bench like hockey.....compare out 3rd and 4th lines to the night we won the cup.....it is a huge huge difference....lukowich was the odd man out the night we won the cup...he is now number 4 or 5 with very little behind him......depth depth depth...that is my statement...as of today our 6th defensemen and whoever is going to be the 7th are "hopefuls"...geeeeeez....for my money the only option they have......unless....BIG UNLESS management spends more...which they won't....is to try to trade one of the big three......no one will take richards though......that is the whole point of so many of these articles.....his contract makes him untradeable......PERIOD....he is not the third best player in hockey, and every other GM knows that....i am stopping because i am going in circles.....big three have talent....they also have the lions share of the alloted money.....and the facts are crystal clear......because of the 20 million we have little to build forward and defensive depth.....we do not have the revenue to compete with new york or philadelphia or colorado.....mangament is caught in the toughest of all places.....we know our liabilities....but we also know out financial limits......we are one of many....many teams who can not go up to the cap......which makes this argument come full circle......the payroll is top heavy...so yes we have the star power......and yes we have the highest minutes of any stars in the game......see the point?????.....are we going to play vinnie and st louis 28 minutes all year again???? power play...penalty kills.....it must be nice for crosby and thorton and heatley to never ever have to kill penalties......but i think we have no choice!!!! that in 1000 words or less is my point......would this discussion be different if we spent 50 million...you bet it would.........but the facts are what they are.....not couldof...wouldof....shouldof.....they go out and spend 3 million each on two more defensemen and you will see nation wide hockey people putting us right up there to make a run at the cup....even then they would question our goalie situation......but at 44 million, with about 12-14 "real" nhl players....there ain't no buzz in tampa bay from the experts.....not just me.

[Jared]

I am reading alot about how we are putting all our money in 3 players (20 mil of the opposed 44 mil we are given). If we had an owner who would let us use the cap space maybe you wouldnt be whineing. We have 3 of the best players in the league obviously they will be expensive to keep. What do you want to do get rid of lecavalier st louis and richards? come on dont be retarded. If we were able to use the cap space to bulid around them then think about the team we would have. STOP complaining about the big 3's salary because they are great players and deserve what they are paid. We deffinetly need to improve our minor league team. It seperates the good teams from the bad. To have depth throughout your team is a key attribute to suceeding in this league and im happy to see feaster addressing that.
Goaltending on the other hand is set we have great goaltenders in Ramo and Holmqvist for sure. Holmqvist can only go up and Ramo is killing it. There is nothing we can do about denis then hope that he can bounce back. No one wants him for anything and might as we'll test him out. And who did you want to go get for goaltending we dont have cap for that 44 mil unelss you dont want to add depth which is more important. Holmqvist is improving and ramo will be an nhl goaltender.

[Sadie]

Well this is a good idea............straight up gladiator style! make em fight for their spot.
I am a firm beliver that no one anywhere deserves a spot until they prove themselves.It also will show them how hard they are willing to work.

[Bob]

Goaltending set? Who are they trying to kid. That crew ain't taking anybody deep into the playoffs. Should have been the first priority in offseason.

[F.T.B.S.]

Well I don't want to bash anyone but, fact is, the coaching at Springfield was abyssimal. Last year was Sterling's first and the jury is out on whether Rumble can teach this game to young D-men.

Buffalo had their injuries and plugged in their kids nicely. Now is definitely the time it'll pay off for them.
Hint: we could lose Boyle as a UFA in '08. Can Rumble train someone to take the place of the one who takes Danny's place? After shuddering at all the minuses on the Springfield roster, I'll be keeping tabs on the Ad's.

Go Bolts!

[mike babnik]

andy rogers had quite an opportunity and was very passive and not physically ready for the nhl......i stick to my guns on feaster....i do not know how anyone can write about "effort" unless they are involved in the day to day with the lightning.....but as far as "results" jay feaster....i can only say this.....no other team......in any other sport.....today...yesterday.....or ten years ago.......put all his eggs in three baskets.......we are two years later....10 million more on the cap......and still jagr(grandfathered in) and crosby are the only guys paid more than richards....as of tonite we still have about 45% of our payroll invested in 3 guys....that is 20 mil out of imposed cap of 44 mil....thanks Jay!!!...gang...after our top 6 players we have like 15 million left for 14 roster positions....this is fact....this has been noted nationwide.....you see it everyday in the paper....if you want more than 750k do not have your agent call the lightning because we do not want anymore 2 million dollar players....it is a fact.....no guessing or opinions needed....it is to late in the evening to get started......i hope feaster pulls some miracles....no one on this planet wants the lightning to do good....that said....jay feaster has single handedly put us in a deep deep whole with his "efforts"...and it might be about two more years of average to below average hockey before we get a whiff of starting over.....our stars are over worked like no other in any sport.....if 28 minutes a nite is the norm......then all the other coaches on the planet and all the other Gm's on the planet are just way dumber than feaster and torts......or maybe just maybe torts is getting every single ounce out of an inferior roster....gotta go!!!!

[Mike13]

I want to say that Rogers got hurt about 2 years ago and had a mediocre camp last year, followed up by a below average year in Springfield.

Was/may still be a decent to good prospect, but he needs to get his crap together.

[bear]

Andy Rogers
2006-07 Springfield 48 games 0 goals 7 A 7 Pts

See hockeydb.com

[bear]

Uh RTL, actually Feaster's player development in the minors has been abysmal. Springfield fired us for putting such a crap team on the ice.

Then he trades a good young goalie, Norina, away in the ridiculous Modin /Denis trade

Next he trades out 1st pick for a depth defenceman, at best, so they can sneek into the playoffs and get blown out early.

With this goaltending and defence I'm more than a little concerned.

The half empty buildings that Mike mentioned are now just one injury away.

[chamien dristodero]

can someone tell me what happened to andy rogers?

[RTL]

I think a little history lesson is needed for some of the hyper critical folks.

This team, until recently, has never put much into it's farm system for fiscal reasons. They had an OK affiliation with Atlanta back when the team started, winning a championship with Cory Cross, I beleive. But Phil Esposito had a hard time affording to keep an entire team stocked with players and he and Donnie Murdoch weren't drafting well anyway. Take a look at the draft history of this franchise sometime. Other than gimmie Top 5 picks they've only drafted a few quality NHL players (Kubina and Richards).

For years Tampa had a few prospects that were assigned to other teams development programs learning their systems, not ours. That's why, for years, nothing came from the minors.

The new ownership group put a lot more money into scouting, but it wasn't until Feaster became our GM did the organization structure itself to develop talent. One can question his drafting strategy and philosophy, but he has done a better job than our previous GM's in drafting and developing players.

Craig, Ranger and Tarnasky are all mid to late round picks of the last few years who are providing cheap production like the article talked about. Jones, Smaby, & Ramo will probably start to contribute this season or next. Mihalik, Kosheckin, Helenius, Rogers, Boutin & possibly Lawrence & Egener are legit prospects.

You can't just snap your fingers and have a farm system up and running.

Feaster and Co. are not above criticism in how they develop players, but to suggest they haven't put forth a quality effort is simply untrue.

[mike babnik]

it is so good to come home from a long day and see this refreshing site.....i loved the.."how long does lightning management think they can blow smoke up our tushy comment"..i talked to several of my cohorts on the phone today about the article.....the general tone was.....does Jay Feaster really believe the crap he is quoted on?....i also like the comment that Jay is h...bent on pleasing the owners.....for me...i always thought this was his biggest problem.....i always thought the richards signing was more of a PR move than hockey sense.....but lets not go down that avenue ever again.....someone...how dare they....suggested...but aren't feasters hands tied by management's unwillingness to spend the cap???my answer...please do not ever suggest that again.....he had gobs of money to spend the last two years and he was
foolhardy...to be kind.......miserable...to be honest....how could anyone open their checkbook to jay feaster again after his track record the last couple years....also of note....i read on another nhl website where artukin..sp?.. was rated the 19th best prospect by the russian hockey federation of players not under a nhl contract.....and feaster can't or won't budge off 475k....like the guy said above......we give 20,000,000 to three guys and then pinch the crap out of the whole rest of the team.....i hope with all my heart some of these
"kids" find a way......if we go backwards this year and next.....the domino's will start to fall......i can not go back to a half empty building......i wish billion dollar bill and crew could see that it is a thin line they are walking.....go bolts!!!!

[MooDaddy]

no Damian thank you for all of your hard work and dedication to this blog. It's nice to come here and see something new on a daily basis.

[Joe]

There seems to be no limit to the extent to which the Lightning will try to defend their utterly foolish and cheap-minded measures. Again I ask, how does it make any sense for a billionaire owner to spend so much money on a handful of world class players then be unwilling to put up a few more million dollars to provide a suitable supporting cast. It seems that every decision made by these jumbled hockey minds (Davidson, Wilson, Campbell, and Feaster - a man so anxious and eager to please his superiors) smacks of cheapness. Even the most hopeful and optimistic of Bolts fans ought to be sick and tired of this nonsense (particularly after being hit up for higher and higher priced single-game and season tickets each year).

Contrast this perspective with the aggressive...BUT INTELLIGENT... approach to spending taken by the Detroit Redwings, the New Jersey Devils, and the Ottawa Senators and it becomes clear as to why the Lightning (although replete with 4 great stars) struggle to get into the playoffs and then are blown out in round one.

The minor leagues of any sport are proving grounds for those young players who are capable of advancement. At this particular point in time, the performances of the young Lightning defensemen on the farm do not merit a reasonable expectation of rise to NHL-quality play. Also, the quest to find a sixth defenseman from their number implies that the Bolts will likely not carry seven blueliners. Obviously, this strategy has as its predicate the notion that injuries will not occur. What is it about contingency planning, critical judgment, and value analysis that presents such an unsurmountable challenge to the Lightning management?
Many observers with keen perspective comprehend that this crew together with a hot-head coach (who wages perpetual conflicts with his players, the media, and his critics) is unwittingly bent on self-destruction and severe damage to the franchise itself because, in this town, winners will be supported and, typically, losers will not.

I think the Tampa fans need to demand better from the management of this organization. How much sunshine can these guys blow up into the tushies of the Lightning faithful before the party ends?

[Randy]

Looking back at the last 5 or so years, the Bolts have not paid enough attention to their minor league system. It really showed last year in Springfield.

All you have to do is look at the contracts given to the upper echelon UFA's this year to see that the era of buying a team is over. The salary cap prevents you from paying everybody 5-7 million per year.

It is important that in order to free up resources to get some of those top tier UFA's you have to have a good base of players on the lower end of the salary scale.

The best place to do that is to develop within. You can bring up players through the system at a reasonable price. Is this a foolproof method and the answer is no. But having a good scouting department who can identify good prospects for the draft and young players in other teams' minor league systems is a must.

The Bolts management recognized this year they had let the minor league system languish and promised to do something about it. And I feel they have taken some good first steps to address that.

What we are talking about here is not a top 4 dman, but your #6 and #7 dmen. These are the spots where you want to work in players from your minor league system to see how they perform. And looking at the list of potential dmen in the system, there seem to be some good candidates for those two spots. Jancevski and Smaby would be the frontrunners at this time. But Leach, Lampman and Schneider are real possibilities. Mihalik has all the tools to be a good one. But I think he needs at least a year in the AHL to acclimate himself to this level of hockey. But if he has a lights out training camp, so be it. But with the dman depth, if he should falter, there are others waiting in the wings who can come in.

Throwing money at a problem doesn't necessarily guarantee a solution. So going out to find a free agent dman for those two spots is not a good allocation of resources.

[Bolts Canucks Fan]

I am in favor of bring in some new talent to compete against the veterans. It's time for this team to fully consider the prospects. On that note, does anyone know what happened to 04 first round pick defenseman Andy Rogers? He was hampered by some nasty ankle injuries, but hope he is still playing and developing as a player. The guy was really good when I saw him play in juniors. Tape to tape passes, great skating, and aggressive play made him stand out on the ice. On this subject, I have also seen Mihalik play in juniors and he's a monster. The guy is huge and can check. Well, he's checking 17 year olds, so we'll see if that aggressive play can translate to the NHL. Giving him a shot when he is ready is a good start. They key is to be ready and I feel that is why Feaster and the staff for the Bolts are inclined to be hesitant to throw rookies into the fire. With our current salary cap, we might not have a choice if a veteran goes down to injury. Time will tell...

BC Fan

BC Fan

[mike babnik]

I find it amazing that these comments come out now......almost as last resort comments.....you mean, they didn't take developing a farm system serious the first 10 years or so???or even the last 5 years....just now because of the salary cap....with or without a cap, we've always been a payroll tight team....anyway....strange comments once again from upper management...i mean the spin doctors.....all of these great ...unproven prospects....get a great opportunity....lucky them....lucky us??? let's hope there are 1 or 2 diamonds in the rough....as thin as we are at all positions....and injury wise we have been very very lucky the last few years......the thought of losing a couple proven nhl players could spell m-i-s-e-r-y.....for my money i still would like them to let craig go and use all of that money to sign a better defenseman.....if their self imposed cap is an absolute number....pour every penny into a top 4 blue liner...just a thought.....two more months til hockey madness begins!!!

[Tony]

Thanks for the updates during the off season. I know I check it at least once a day waiting on the latest signings or updates from the Team.

The greatest thing about the off season is we still have a team with Talent and endless possibilities. I think that drives us hopefuls all off season long. Come on September!!

[Lightning rod]

To me, the focus of many of the team's moves this year, appear to indicate a real push toward developing a good minor league system. It makes good hockey sense, as the majority of the top teams have an established system to develop their young prospects; and, if stocked properly, can be used to provide replacement depth when injuries occur. It's also a realistic way to deal with salary cap. issues, especially in the future. The team appears to be taking the necessary steps in this direction, which is a marked difference from the past. I really like what the team is now finally doing in this regard. More importantly this shift in mindset implies that the organization is making a commitment beyond the now; and , if they keep it up, a commitment to provide solid team depth down the line.

It maybe that the owner's $44M self-imposed salary cap. reflects the dollars needed to finally establish a functional minor league system. I could be wrong, but that's just my thought. I for one hope they keep on doing it.