Lightning asks Boyle to waive no-trade clause

Things all of a sudden seem to be moving fast with the Lightning and Dan Boyle as the Lightning defenseman confirmed the team has asked him to waive his no-trade clause.

"They have asked me to waive my no-trade clause," Boyle said, "but that's all I can say right now."

It was unclear if the Lightning gave Boyle a destination, but it is believed teams interested are the Senators, Sharks, Canucks, Flyers, Islanders, Thrashers and Blue Jackets.

Owner Oren Koules could not be reached but owner Len Barrie said simply, "We're working on some things. ... When these things happen for a player, the team wants to do it in the right way and make it easiest for the player. Dan is a good guy and a good guy in the organization."

Boyle's agent George Bazos could not be reached for comment. Boyle in an interview earlier this morning, said he was not inclined to waive his no-trade clause.

That sets up this little scenario in which Boyle digs in his heels and the Lightning puts him on waivers and loses him for nothing, which, it seems to me would be stunningly shortsighted but is an option, perhaps not right away but it is available. You don't waive one of the league's best puck-moving defensemen, a player who was instrumental in helping tun around a franchise and win a Stanley Cup and lose him for nothing even if you are desperate to cut salary, and that is what this move seems to be about.

But there is a downside in that scenario for Boyle as well. If he does not waive his no-trade clause, he risks going somewhere he really doesn't want to be, whereas, you have to believe the Lightning will try to trade him to a Stanley Cup contender. That just makes sense because those are the teams that have the most to give back. The strongest rumors have had Boyle going to Ottawa, which is his hometown, and given the above list, Boyle probably is doing some research to figure out scenarios in which he can waive his no-trade clause.

Let me just say I am a huge Dan Boyle fan. I believe he is underrated on a league-wide scale. If the Lightning has to lose him, and all signs point to this as a way to cut salary, it has to get something significant in return.   

Comments

[Don in St. Pete]

Josh, Those numbers are close but not entirely accurate. Here's a link to a site that is more accurate but not entirely either.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/cap-central/team.php?team=TB

You'll note Stamkos isn't on there and I think his hit is around $3,725,000. This leaves us a little over a mil under the cap, in my book.

[billyd]

Josh- If your numbers are right... good job, good blog. Dan needs to stay with the TBL. I am already thinking these new guys are LA scumbags.

[Bob]

I think what most peeps are really saying is that trading Dan is not good for us, the fans and the team. If Dan is traded, he'll be fine playing for a team he wants to play for and for the $ he wants.

IMO Kuba should be the first to get gone. Then again, who is going to pay him 3 mil? The the OK (Outtatheirminds Krewe) Posse, featuring DJ Mulletman have forgotten there are a couple of guys that skate between the goalie and wings/center. They are called Defensemen.

I still can't get a grip on what signing Roberts was about. Seems like wasted cap money to me.

All I can say is What The Heck? I was starting to warm up to renewing my season tickets, but I'll wait until late September before I commit either way. This show has too many twists, turns, and credibility issues for me a the moment.

Maybe this whole thing is material for the next horror movie ole Hollywood wants to make.

[Boltflasher]

I have been a big fan of Boyle's since he got here and all club's need more guys like Dan that have loyalty to the organization and wants to remain part of the city. Dan helped us to win a cup and we will never forget. But, both Dan and the Lightning are victims of poor contract stucture and inability to restructure due to the CBA. However, thanks to the Lightning, he can veto any trade and go only where he wants to, and makes a huge amount of money $6mil/yr for several years and several teams are lined up wanting his services. We're all dissapointed that he can't stay and will miss him, but its not like he's in a bad situation. However, if Ottawa says his contract is too much, what does that tell you?

my bad Don, had a brain cramp. Blake signed with SJ. @5 mil. That hardly eases our cap.

[Nathan]

Someone called Danny "old, slow and expensive." The last one, maybe. The first two - AYFKM?

The new owners will undo a LOT of their newly-purchased good will if the cut Danny loose. He's worth the investment to keep him. What did they shell out for Mike Smith?

[crazyinstpete]

Don, chill a little. I know the events of the last few days have you jacked up a little. However, it would be tough for San Jose to send us Blake when he plays for LA.

Take a deep breath dude!!

[Don in St. Pete]

Marlboro Man, I liked the moves the new ownership made with the exception of Roberts and Hall, which were not NEEDED. Both are charachter, hi grit guys but we could have gotten some of that back in a stay at home defenseman. I'm hearing that the Sens no longer want to deal, but that may be a ploy as it's predicted they could recieve offers for both Metzaros and Vermette.I'm guessing that they plan on letting both go and getting draft pics in exchange. San Jose is tighter against the cap than we are but I could see them sending us back Rob Blake and McLaren for Boyle. Maybe that has been the plan all along. Boyle would probably love silicon valley and never miss it here except for the taxes.

[Not the Marlboro Man]

I really can't feel all that bad for someone making $6.667 million a year to play a game. If he wanted to stay in Tampa he should have got with his agent and asked him to make a deal that would have guaranteed him staying here for the rest of his career.

Although Boyle is a stellar puck mover and point threat on special teams. He struggles in the defensive zone when playing against physical forwards. I even saw him shoot the puck to the goalie and it end up in the net when Homer and Boyle couldn't get on the same sheet music.

As far a needing a defensmen, the Bolts need Boyle because there is no other decent puck mover out there right now. I say trading Boyle makes no sense what so ever at this stage, but monitarily it makes perfect sense to the OK boys who are are looking now at how to pay the bills after their 2 days of binge shopping.

I'm sure that the Ok boys from their stand point have weighed all the options and found that Boyle's salary makes him the most logical player to move. My problem is the way in which that Moron Feaster closed the deal. Boyle who was coming off an injury and only played in limited outings would have taken $4.5 mil a year to stay in Tampa, if he wouldn't have, they could have traded him at the trade deadline for draft choices and would have still had the option to get him back the way they got Prospal back. Instead, Feaster pulls off another Feaster. He let his loyalty to the 2004 team personell get in his way when he made his decisions on salary and length of contract to a 32 year old 5'9" 185 lb defenseman. Thats why OK Hockey needs to fire Feaster's big can as soon as possible. Feaster proves time and again that he cannot negotiate and he doesn't use good judgement when trying to build a competative team. It was a slap in the Face of John Tortarella to hang on to Jay Feaster and not fire him. This is just another example of the way that OK hockey will have allot of unscrewing to do before this team can ever be built like a NHL frachise suppose to be.

In the mean time Boyler is getting the results of the incompetency of the past and the reality of the present and future.

[Section 317]

All that it would have taken last week during the press conference when Boyle's status was questioned was for OK and the Coach to say a simple "No Comment." They already knew that they were going to try this with Boyler. I do not care for outright deception in someone that I am giving $4,000 for season tickets. I am extremely disappointed after a great first impression.

[Don in St. Pete]

Sorry Marlboro Man, but it's a violation of the NHL collective bargaining agreement to attempt to renegotiate a contract. This is the Bolts not the Bucs. To all you girls out there oooohing and ahhhhiig over Danny Boyle, he's married. To all of those out there talking about how traitorous it is to sign the guy and then try to trade him. Every other team in the NHL would have done the same thing. Unfortunately, because they waited this long to trade Boyle the teams that have assets to trade are already against the cap and the ones with plenty of cap space are looking for D just like us. We are in a no win situation right now and I recommend management to back off and work other deals until the need is great or other opportunities arise. As bad off as we are there are many other teams that are far more bereft of any d than us. At least we have some talent and potential.

[josh]

OK everyone calling for Boyle to restructure needs to know this: that is NOT allowable under the current CBA. Otherwise we wouldnt be seeing so many players getting bought out.

That being said, Boyle is in a very very tough position here. He doesnt know whether he's getting dealt, the team aint talkin (as usual)and his agent is posturing.

Boyle may get moved. But we probably wont. Then again we said the same thing about Richie.

That being said, this roster and it's cap hit has yet to be set. We could see a lot of player movement without Danny Boyle even being discussed.

As it is, players who will not be returning to the TBL, except on two-way or minors contracts are: Darche, Macdonald, and Karlsson. Not returning are: Gratton, Roy, (unfortunately) and Doug Janik.

Possible to be in the minors are Tarnasky, Smaby and maybe Lundin.

That means lines as such (with cap hit)

Lecavalier, St. Louis, Prospal (15.667)
Stamkos, Malone, Vrbata (approx 10.0)
(depends on Stamkos' contract)
Craig, Jokinen, Ouellet (3.95)
Tarnasky, Artyhukin, Roberts (2.675)

Halpern, Probably on long term IR (2.0)

D
Boyle, Ranger (7.527)
Kuba, O'brien (4.125)
Picard, Lukowich (2.4)
Lundin (.738)

G
Kolzig
Smith (2.45)

Buyout for Marc Denis (.867)

Filling out the 23 man roster is:

Jason Ward (.7), Adam Hall (.6) or David Koci (.525)

Now im not privy to battles for positions, but those psotions really have negligible salary differences.

Looking at the worst case scenario, and if all contracts are maxed, thats a roster that holds a cap hit of approximately

$53.099
NHL Numbers says 51.999

NHL salary cap for 2008/2009

56.7

The team is under the cap. Unless of course, they decide to operate under a self imposed cap lower than that of the league.

HMMMM What pinch a penny owner does that sound like?

What im saying is, there is no NEED to trade Boyle

[Not the Marlboro Man]

The way I see it if he thought he wanted to stay and really help the team he shouldn't have taken $6.667 million. On the other hand Jay Feaster the idiot he is shouldn't have given him a no trade clause. What you have now is a test of wills on both sides of the table. I say if Dan really wants to stay in Tampa Bay, he should make an offer to renegotiate his contract to show good will on his part. OK hockey should be willing to negotiate as well. Fester on the other hand should be fired.

[debbie machalow]

there is no circumstance that trading (or waiving) Dan Boyle is a good move. he's the best puck-moving defenseman in the league, how is it an improvement if we're losing an invaluable player?

it was my understanding that we dealt brad to keep danny (no, I'm still not over the dealing of brad richards). how does it make sense to further dismantle the core of players (the ever shrinking core) that won us the Cup?

in order to cut salary, how about moving less integral pieces of the team?

since this ownership decided to move brad, I've been wary, however, if they force danny off the team, I'm seriously going to have to re-think cheering for the Bolts. trading away invaluable talent does NOT shoe a committment to winning, and is just poor business sense.

I dunno, maybe one of us should start a petition to keep Danny, or something.

[Jim-NJ]

PLEASE READ! Here's a great answer to this problem: MOVE BOYLE TO THE WING! Since they've got such a h#rd-on for forwards who can score and evidentally don't want any type of D, this would be PERFECT!

[léo]

Ahhhh, Delusion, Ajax,
The final act of Surrender.
To usurp Halak, Denis will have to play .915, nevermind the Priceberg.
He should start by contending with Desjardins in Hamilton.
But if the universe flips itself inside-out and Marc Denis turns into Redford's Natural, usurps Halak AND the Priceberg after 20 games?
Coooooool.
Aaaaaah, delusion is fun sometimes, isn't it?
But hey,
Denis is one of Our "kids in the system" now.
So don't make fun of him; he's trying his best even if he'll never make it to the NHL. This "kid" plays the game because he loves it, c'mon. (hee-hee)
That being said,
Thanx for paying his salary. (Haw!)
Yo.

[Audrey]

All that's left to do now is change the jersies reflecting the new team name because this new team looks nothing like The Lightning I know.

[ajax]

Nothing could lighten the day like reading that the Slabs (Montreal) signed Marc Denis to a one year contract. Great for a class guy, my prediction is he will be the starter by game 20 and will be a good mentor until they find a real starting goalie. Price gets sent down for another round of seasoning and eventually winds up in the Russian Superleague making 37 million per year.

[Ricky]

Dan don't leave. We all love you man!

[léo]

Know what's even funnier Turning Worm?
You're payin' Denis to play for Us! Haw-haw! (I love posters who stick their foot in their mouth!)
Yeah, I heard We picked up Denis.
Well,
We needed a minor-league goalie. All OUR goalies are NHLers, Worm (Price, Halak, Yann Danis); we got no one in the minors. Denis is PERFECT for that, wouldn't you agree? We gave him a 2-way contract, Worm. Thanx fer stoppin' by.
"Hammer you on bad decisions"? Like what? Trading your best and only D-Man to save bucks? Ok, sorry...
Brilliant move.
..laughin' at Us cuz We picked up YOUR minor-leaguer fer free..hee-hee...classic...
Yo.

[léo]

Ok, Don, lemme rephrase that,
Change A-defender for YOUR BEST defender.
Same difference in regards to what you stand to lose if you trade him: the reliability of YOUR TEAM'S blue line.
As for Grabovski, here's the straight dope,
Fantastic hands, sublime speed, yes.
Gets bowled over by a gust of wind, can't keep the puck. He needs weight and seasoning and We have neither the compatibility nor the time to support him. No place on Our roster for him, risked losin' him fer nuthin to Russia if he got bumped down (although, in all fairness, he is MUCH too strong for the AHL, 20pts in 12 games total).
Add to that his "attitude" that saw him decide to abandon the team for 24hrs in Phoenix and boom, that signed his departure papers (you don't pull prima-donna crap in Mtl; look at Samsonov). He was no-doubtedly the apple in the Mtl/Tor Sundin thing.
He'll see some ice in Toranna and at least We'll get to watch him play WITHOUT fearing that he may bite Us in the butt. Toranna! (snicker)
We dump some salary, sign Laraque, and still got 8.5mil waitin' fer The Swede.
No "dumping" the D.
Not even Markov.
Hey, GOTTA keep the D, no?
Yo.

[how the worm turns]

Funny Stuff!!

While leo hammers us on bad decisions, his habs just signed Mark Denis!

Bahahahahahaha.......

And the Lightning have made bad moves?

This is way too funny!!

[Vickie]

This is pure B.S. Don't they realize we are not going to have any defense..ok now im pissed and really starting to NOT CARE ANYMORE about this team.

[Duane]

Don't do this. Don't trade Danny or ask him to waive his no trade clause.
This, to me, is a serious breach in trust the new ownership is asking from the Tampa faithful.
It is hockey fantatics that fill those seats and Danny B is one of the all time fan favorites and to move him will absolutely crush my faith in this team.
We're already beginning to look like a mercenary team of players and not a team built on chemistry like the cup champs. This is awful awful news

[erik]

I can't believe we're looking at trading one of the best d-men in the league to make salary room for Gary Roberts...

[ajax]

leo, some wise words(finally, ouch, joke joke) The D, is and was, the true weakness of this team and we plan on improving the team by trading an all-star??. I will use an analogy, do you know how often Crawford and Upton bail out the Rays pitching staff with their legs and you never see that in the boxscore do ya? That is Dan Boyle, pinching on the blue line, or stepping in front of an outlet pass or beating a guy to a wide open puck to avoid an odd man rush. Speed is everything and Dan Boyle has got it. Last year he was hurt and this certain coach we had played him 31 minutes in the second game back after missing 55 games. Dan Boyle is a player and they darn better get back an awful lot before this camper will be happy.
That said, I love that they are keeping all doors open. Man, this is a mover, baker, shaker business. We had a GM before who's best asset was bringing guys into an empty room with a blank check.
I want to trust and hope etc etc.
Am I worried, yes. You are always in the drivers seat if you have assets. Some of the other names thrown around to trade might be tougher to dump (see Kuba)
Should make for one healthy blog the next few weeks. Where are my rosies?

[legalluke]

I am just concerned about the credibility of the Bolts' management.

A few days earlier the coach & owner dismiss the rumor and then BANG, all of a sudden want to trade one of the team's pillars and the only good D.

Count me out for Seasons Tickets if it comes to fruiton that they lose Boyle.

[Don in St. Pete]

Leo, I'm sorry but I disagree, not on whether we should trade Boyle as I still think we should keep him, but in that he is a A defender. He has A value in his ability to move the puck and play the point on the PP. He's come a long way since we won the cup and he was the #5 d'man. To me Lidstrom is an A defender. So are Boouwmeester and Chara. I want to keep Boyle but if we do you can't play him against the other teams top line every shift. I don't care if he played for the Canadians, it would be disastrous, just like it has been for us. I think we should keep Boyle deal the extra forwards and a couple of mid-level D for what we need but I am neither the GM or the owner and that is the decision to make. They have to live with the consequences and a host of angry fans. I'm sure Melrose diesn't want to move Boyle. Maybe he can talk some sense into OK. Stay tuned...

[bear]

Good young players are available but you need to trade good young players to get them. Bolts have none other than Stamkos

Leafs just picked up a 22 year old center from Montreal Grabowski, who was arguably the best center in the Worlds tourny.

He would have been perfect here.

[bear]

Well fiscally they have to move salary but as GG pointed out earlier what then was the point in signing Roberts?

Boyle doesn't have to go anywhere, ask McCabe.

They overpaid for Malone too by all accounts. Not so good.

One thing is safe to say the Bolts don't give a squat about prospects. They have to put bums in seats in large numbers now.

Vinny playing this very wisely IMHO.

[léo]

"Staggerringly active".
C'n say that again. I am STAGGERED by this action.
Oh Leo, you don't know anything; it's about acquiring ASSETS and having bartering chips for a successful trade that will bring us Superior D.
Ok, fine.
But Kouliwood has got it backwards! It's the other way around, goofball! Don't "acquire assets" then trade your D! Hello?! Who's minding the store? Who's talking to this guy? Who's got his ear? Does he have like a...a...a pakistani cricket coach advising him or sumthin'?
Listen, you'll have NO D, do you understand what that means??? No D. None. NOBODY to stop Kovalchuk or Ovechkin or Staal or even Horton! You understand?
WHO can you POSSIBLY and realistically HOPE to get in return for Boyle that will COVER his loss, who? Nobody.
And I repeat, no matter WHAT anybody thinks, 2 B-defenders AREN'T worth an A-defender.
Madness.
Oh well,
Good luck.
Yo.

[Bryan]

Tell 'em no, Danny. Your option.

Besides, make them get rid of the other dead weight on the team.

[Remember]

Thats Great

Now TRADE KUBA

Thanks Don. But wait a few seconds and something new will come off the presses....the soap opera continues.

[Matt]

Sorry for the earlier comment about a revisit to his contract I didn't know that couldn't be done... but if you all open the TBL webiste Dan is still on top of the main page the 3 players to the top right are Marty Vinny and Dan

[jrweber25]

I thought they said the team was not broke, but only needed to be "tweaked"? Looks like they will have a completely new roster before next year. The only two left will be the Vinnys. After Boyle is moved watch, they'll move MSL too. Don't you love Fantasy Hockey?!!

[Don in St. Pete]

Alright! Everybody settle down. Here is the lates I can find from around 3:00PM direct from Danny's agent, on Stricklands Blog.

http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=16076

No go have a cold drink and calm down until tomorrow.

[TTT90]

Why did the lightning sign so much Forwards...??

We have Prospal back, Malone and Hall added an got Stamkos is this not enough?

we´d have Prospal Vinny Marty
Malone Stamkos Ouellet

and we saw that Halpern has the skill to be more than a third-line center

then we still have Jokinnen Craig Hall

i think that would give the offense a lot more confidence than last year

i think the bolts throw money out of the window with signing Vrbata 3mil Roberts 2 mil --> so that would be almost Boyle...and space for another d-men but the owern were too fast an finally didn´t have enough cash to sign
maybe Redden for 6 mil Hainsey 4,5 mil...now it´s too late

But DO NOT TRADE BOYLE

i´m from germany so excuse my english ;)

[Don in St. Pete]

Leo, I haven't heard or read that Boyle's been traded yet. I don't expect him to be traded unless it will improve the team, otherwise the deal makes no sense.

[hkyboy22jr]

yeah it 16 fowards and 9 d men ??? that crazy

[Remember]

Even if we trade Boyle were gonna still have 15/16 fowards on our team.
Wheres the DDDDFence

[Baroque]

The problem is that if other teams know he needs to be moved, Tampa will not be dealing from a position of strength. They can ask and ask and ask for an excellent return until they are blue int he face, but a potential trade partner can just keep saying no because they have the Lightning over a barrel.

Not a good situation.

Watch - Maybe he will be traded for three more forwards.

[hkyboy22jr]

it going to be nothing but forwads playing ...danny can move the puck ...and where going to give that away ... so he can do that to us . i just dont get it

[léo]

Well,
It's not a "rumor" no more, is it?
What EXACTLY is the thought-process, here? Saving money on the salary-cap by trading away an A-defender for 2, less-expensive B-defenders? And this helps the team to improve in WHAT way now?
So now, you go from a weak defending corps to a non-existant defending corps, that it? I see.
It better be a MAGICAL bunny that Kouliwood pulls outta the hat in trading Boyle...
Or else I gotta take back what I said about the Bolts challengeing for 1st in South-East.
Ouch.
Good luck.
Yo.

[Cookie]

Patricia, the new TBL website also says "owners to unite us." I don't feel very united.:( DAN DON'T GO! Use your NTC!

[Tony]

Stick to your guns Dan.By the way when are the Lightning going to anounce that Len Barrie is the new GM?

[Mitchie]

waivers?? how embarassing!! This is ridiculous really... stop adding more new people if those here can't be treated with respect!

[jhkyref]

Patricia good catch. I just looked at the Lightning websites new intro and no Boyle....Very Interesting. (What's up hkyboy22jr??)

[Bep Guidlon]

Meszaros and Vermette would be a nice return, but I think it's bigger than that. All of these teams who want puck movers have overpaid for them, and a couple of young D and a checking line center makes sense for the Bolts. Think Montreal, Boston or San Jose!

[Tackleberry]

Another article on Boyle

www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=242326&lid=sublink08&lpos=headlines_main