The sale is the thing

Okay, guys, this probably is going to be my last post for a while unless something dramatic happens because, after nine months of almost daily work, I need some time off. Hard to describe what this season was like because there was so much going on beyond what was happening on the ice: the sale of the team, the injuries, the intra-team dramas. It was unlike any season I can recall, and I covered these guys back in 1999-2000, when they were awful.

Anyway, have a good story in tomorrow's paper about how drafting Steve Stamkos will be nice, though until the sale of the team is complete, the business of the team is at a standstill. As GM Jay Feaster said, "The biggest thing we have to get is a sale transaction complete. That's the first order of business. ... It is difficult to plan until we know exactly where we are as far as that goes.'' Later this week, we'll have something about how the team fell so far so fast and what must be done to set things right.

For today, though let's tie up some of the loose ends:

Andre Roy: The chances of him coming back to the team seem remote at this point. It can change but can't imagine, after all that happened this season, that the coaching staff read this morning he has no regrets over what happened in Philadelphia and will welcome him back with open arms. Roy could be an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Shane O'Brien: Why was O'Brien benched the final five games of the season? In coach John Tortorella's eyes, he was making the same mistakes over and over. He also lost a small bit of control over his weight, came in one day a couple pounds over his prescribed weight. Both things combined got him benched. O'Brien said the air is clear after Monday's meetings, but he won't forget the embarrassment of being benched. "Fuel for the fire,'' he said. Tortorella, I believe, equates O'Brien with Pavel Kubina. Kuby turned out well, but it was a struggle to get player and coach on the same page.

Jeff Halpern: Depending on where Stamkos fits, he either stays on the second line or drops to the third. Likely to bump around, either way. But a great pickup for the Lightning.

Stamkos: Didn't you love the stuff the kid said in the paper this morning? Worked hard on his skating last summer. Considers himself a complete player so works as hard on defense. Knows you can't be successful in the NHL without playing both sides of the puck. Sounds mature and he has the skills. Can't wait to see him in camp.   

Defense: Will be very interesting next season. Tortorella already has said Picard will make next season's team. He joins Dan Boyle, Paul Ranger, Filip Kuba, Brad Lukowich and ... who? O'Brien will have to win back favor. Mike Lundin may get some time in the minors, though he is so good with his stick, and now that he started getting power play time, he might force his way back on the team. Doug Janik is likely out. Might O'Brien be traded? How about Kuba, if anyone would take him and his $3-million salary, or Luke. A nice little drama coming next season.

Forwards: Looks like Andreas Karlsson and perhaps even Chris Gratton will be gone. Too bad about Gratton, but with Vinny Lecavalier, Halpern and Stamkos as the top three centers, do you think Gratton will be happy with fourth-line duty? Tampa Bay also wants Craig MacDonald back, another center, and center Ryan Craig should be back as well, though he could play wing.

Goaltenders: As soon as Torts said Karri Ramo should start in the minors, Ramo raised his game. Mike Smith has the tools to be a number one, just needs to be more consistent and stay in net once in a while. Note to Mike: If it's going to be icing, don't play the puck. Two young guys like that as a tandem. It could work, but the nets will be a point of concern again.

A final thought: The season was so bad and so full of bad luck, Feaster said before the draft lottery that there was "no way in hell'' Tampa Bay would win the No. 1 pick. But one of the Lightning's 250 assigned numbers (out of 1,000) came up. Feaster said is was nice, for once, for some sunshine to break through the dark clouds. Think about it, though, perhaps the Lightning's luck began changing at the trade deadline. As much as losing Brad and Vinny Prospal was a blow, the Lightning did very well to get Picard, Halpern, Smith and Jussi Jokinen. Now they probably get Stamkos. Look at the Flyers last season who went from 30th and 56 points in 2006-07 to sixth and 95 points this season. That is why the summer is so important and that is why this sale has to be done.

Comments

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[Not The Marlboro Man]

The only thing your going to see that you want to see next year Slap Shot is Marty and Vinny on the same line together. This team has issues with personnel and will lose at least a third to free agency or trades. You can bet your bottom dollar that Stamkos is going to be expensive to sign too.

The Lightning need at least two more veteran defensemen besides Shane "I Like Hotdogs" O'brien and Brad Lukowich. Both of these characters had high expectations this season and both under performed miserably. Shane O'brien cannot skake worth a crap and Lukowich is slow. Matt Smaby should get a chance as the # 6 guy and Picard is doing fine. Both these guys are the only ones who hit with any consistency. The Bolts need hitters on defense, they have enough scorers.

On the first two lines the Lightning are going to have to trade or aquire in F/A a big scoring forward who can add pressure as well as the ability to score. Brian Rolston who will be a free agent in July is the best forward out there that would fit the big and dangerous catagory. He is a perrenial 30 goal scorer and he is consistant. One more forward would be nice to add such as a Ryan Malone or Daymond Langkow, there are several others out there that could add the much needed firepower. The key is that there needs to be productivity from 3 lines. Halpern and Jokkinen would both fit on the third line along with Ouellett or Ryan Craig...if he's ready to play.
I don't see the Bolts getting better until these adjustment are made.
Fourth Line is the only line the Bolts have in tact; Tarnasky, MacDonald and Lessard or Darche. Gratton won't be back unless he wants to except a diminished roll but he would be a great special teams guy along besides Halpern and Ouellett.
Along with good players on the first two lines the Bolts will have to have depth so they can withstand another season of cheap-shots and injuries and let's not forget the Bolts are going to need another enforcer since Roy will not be back. If for some reason the Tampa can't rid of O'brien I would make him a fighting goon...because thats all his game is worth anyway.
In Goal I would let the two we have now hash it out in camp. I thought that Ramo showed allot of maturity towards the end of the season. He was fed a big plate of chicken s%#* and was expected to make chicken salad out of it. A couple of games when he had good defense in front of him he looked extremely comfortable and performed great. Mike Smith is good but I believe he tried to show off a bit and it made him look a little shakey. He could be a great starter but he will have to quit coming out of the net so much. Both goalie are great potential. So if the Bolts have enough firepower they won't have to worry as much about the goal tending. Some nights you are going to have to win those 6 to 5 games. Every night can't be a shut out, it just don't happen that way unless you are Marty Brodeur but even he loses occasionally.

Feaster has his work cut out for him. This is probably his last chance to show it. Torts is in the balance and being weighed. I believe he as well as Feaster's jobs are being scrutinized as they have never been before. This is their last chance to turn things around, I don't think that even making the play-offs is enough to save either one of them. They must at least o to the conference finals next season or they are going to be unemployed. I personally don't have the confidence in Feaster to get the job done, so I'm willing to bet this is his last hoorah.

Well it looks like a great fishing day out there so I'm off to grab some rays and suds. I hope that all of you out there get to do the same....and oh yes, GO AVS, kill the Wild!

[PD]

Hilarious Slapshot..you wouldn't get a second round pick for any of those guys.

[slapshot]

Here is the line up I would like to see next season.

offense
1 Prospal* Lecavalier St.louis
2 jokinen Stamkos* Huselius*
3 Craig Halpern Oullet
4 Tarnasky Gratton Roy

Defense
1 Ranger Boyle
2 Picard Kuba
3 O'brien lukowich

Goalies
1 Smith
2 Ramo

Extra:Lundin, Smaby, Macdonald, Darche, Ward

*=aquired in summer

Prospal: When Prospal was traded Lecavalier and St.louis struggled.

Stamkos: The skilled nhl ready center will most likley be drafted 1st overall and make the team.

Huselius: The lightning are in need of Forwards and the speedy sweed, who is unlikley to resign with the flames, would fit well with Stamkos.

[slapshot]

I heard that the kings were willing to trade one of their 1st round draft picks(the one that they got from the stars) for a nhl ready defensman. Maybe Kuba, o'brien, or luke, and the lightning need some high draft picks to rebuild for the future.

[Nate Dogg]

Wow...a second rounder for Gratton...just to let him walk after one season...

[Patrick]

"Jeff Halpern: Depending on where Stamkos fits, he either stays on the second line or drops to the third. Likely to bump around, either way. But a great pickup for the Lightning."

Damien, don't you know that Feaster and all the experts have already spoken on this?

[Elwood]

Even though I clean my nose in their general direction for dumping hockey, ESPN had a nice article on The Kid.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3334070

[Alex]

Leo Ch, the latest trade proposal that I heard of between the Canucks and Lightning was to trade Richards for Luc Bourdon, Alex Edler, Cory Schneider, and a 1st Rounder. Of course, Dave Nonis didn't go for that. I don't blame him. However, if he did, then I would have tried trading some of our other bigger names over to Vancouver just to continue raping the team's system. I'm done, those were my two cents.

[wiggy]

Typical analysis by the PSE flunky. The real questions are Ownership? Feaster? Tortorella? Quit kissing up DC or transfer to the business section tyhat cultivates all the big advertisers.

[Nils]

Where do you get that crap, JP? Halpern is a well-respected 100 percenter by everyone in the league, especially in Washington and Dallas. "Cancers" are not made captains. Take your garbage and obvious biases somewhere else.

[léo Çh]

Well, I hope it's GOOD cancer.
SFF

[JP]

Smith was (and is) the reason Brad was traded, Halpern played great when NOTHING is on the line, Big deal.
Hopefully Halpern took the trade as a wake up call and Tampa will benefit, otherwise look for him to be a waste of ice time, the same way he was in big D.
He may be reliable, but according to people in big D he's a cancer off the ice.

[ajax]

Gang please keep open to the theory that the last 20 games were not the real VL4, Boyle and Marty. They were all -20 or so over that period. Nothing in their history to suggest such poor play except that they didn't give a dern. You dig a little deeper when something is on the line, ALL OF US DO. Boyle will be back to the awesome player he was. He didn't even have his legs and he needs those legs.
All the chatter about losing this pick, making such and such move. Hello gang, Feaster in hind site has been amazingly bad at every level. Damien wrote the simplest headline "The Sale" and it is by far the biggest statement in our recent history, everything else is meaningless without new owners. And fire Jay and Torts and get a breath of fresh air into this town!!

[léo Çh]

Hold on there Max,
It's not the deadline trade deal that put Tampa 30th out've the 30. That was new players getting into a new groove with a new team.
It's the team that was here BEFORE the deadline that was going nowhere and sinking fast at the same time.
Look at Dallas now. Maybe Richards is cursed; I don't know. But I don't see how what Tampa got for him could be considered a bad deal.
As for Boyle for Campbell; it's the same problem twice removed: whatcha gonna pay him this summer? Sabres couldn't keep him but they can pay Boyle 6mil?
I don't know 'bout the Vancouver deal so if I can be enlightened on the subject, I would appreciate it.
O'Brien? I don't know if he would be so "bad" under another coach, one who wouldn't let him get fat cuz he's playing!
We're very curious to see what you're gonna do now.
SFF

[Bear]

Max I meant Stamkos as the second horse@ 50/50

Agree with you totally on Feasty's appraisal talents for D men.

Paying a 1st for Obrien was also insane.

[Madmaxbolt]

Bear - Isn't V4 the same as Lecavalier?

I disagree that the Richards trade worked out for Tampa. In fact, Halpren's unusual production probably has added to Feaster's false sense that things aren't as bad as they look (30th out of 30). Then trading Richards allowed Feaster to blow $40M over 6 years on a defenceman who doesn't play defense (-29 in a 1/3 of a season - INSANE!!!). If they had traded Boyle for a Campbell type package and Richards to Vancouver for what was proposed, Tampa would be sitting on a bunch of young talent and oodles of cap space, even if the budget was cut to $38-40 million.

[bear]

Too bad about Gratton and Obrien?

I'd say since they cost us a 1st round pick last year and a key second round pick in this years draft.

Glad you are so connected with SPT.In the real hockey world its 50/50 at best that either V4 or Lecavalier are Bolts next year.

Pom poms away

And that sale? Thats' funny.

[Casper, Phantom, Next year ???]

Thanks for your daily commitment DC. You get battered here and I just wish to say thanks. Thanks for the mileage you’ve covered, and the latitude your boss gives some inane ranters on this blog, me included. This swan song is a heck of a lot more concise than the one I wrote a year ago. Good stuff.

Feedback: Andre- so long and thanks. We’re going to hate playing against you. O’Brien- don’t believe that clean slate jive. You’re under a microscope now. Coach has to make job justification gestures for his next assignment. Watch yourself and your situational awareness, and with any luck, we’ll get some real coaching here. Not back-biting critique. Jeff Halpern- man, are we ever lucky to have landed you. The Brad Richards lather ‘n oil boys will be the last ones to recognize that you epitomize ‘Heart and Soul’. But purists already see you as an unsung one-of-the-most-valuable-Bolts. These ain’t your old Caps, but a new era unfolds. Stamkos- I’ll be like a Missourian---“Show me”. I’ll just be happy not hearing any weirdness surrounding the Kid off the ice. All eyes will be on him except mine. I’ll also be watching Tyrell, Keller, Lawrence, Smolenak, etc.

Defense- oh boy, first start with a defense coach. Keep Ranger, Picard, O’Brien, Smaby, ehh-ok- Lundin (Hit the weights, Son), bring up Mihalik (HE should be our Kubina project!), look at Scalzo and Quick, go get some credible NHL caliber help. {I omitted Boyle-yes-, want to debate? I won’t dignify it, I‘ve already stated his shortcomings- do your homework and watch many other D-men in the playoffs. Learn something.} Forwards and goal tenders will continue to be a goat rope around here until changes are made upstairs.

That last line is key.

Heal well Vincent!

Go Bolts!

[léo Çh]

About bad luck, bit of trivia,
In the last 13 yrs of this new draft-order system, the last place team had a 48% chance of getting the first pick, essentially, 1 in 2.
But it's only happened 3 times in 12 yrs, a 1 in 3 chance! Mathematically, THAT'S bad luck.
Yesterday was the 4th.
Definitely good luck then, Tortie, wouldn't you say?
SSF