Teams line up for Boyle

The Senators always have been on the top of the list of teams expected to make a run at Lightning defenseman Dan Boyle. They are in his hometown of Ottawa, which leads some to believe he might actually waive his no-trade clause to go there. The team also lost puck-moving defenseman Wade Redden to free agency, so there is a big hole there to fill.

But there apparently are more teams interested than the Senators. It is believed the list includes the Sharks, who lost Brian Campbell to free agency, Canucks, Flyers, Islanders and Thrashers. There could be others but these seem the most likely right now.

The Thrashers are an interesting entry since they just signed free agent defenseman Ron Hainsey from the Blue Jackets. But back to Atlanta for a second, it is intriguing that they have one of the best young blue-liners in the league in Tobias Enstrom, who had 33 assists last season and four power play goals. Is there a match there for Tampa Bay? And does the Lightning really want Boyle perhaps haunting them within the division? Just asking.

The Sharks also have some options that could come the other way in a trade. Defenseman Matt Carle had a huge 2006-07 with 11 goals and 42 points, though the Hobey Baker Award winner out of the University of Denver saw his production fall sharply last season. Christian Ehrhoff probably has less upside but scored 10 goals in 2006-07.

The Islanders have the cap space and some extra draft picks, something the Lightning could use, and Islanders coach Ted Nolan apparently loves Boyle as a player. But New York doesn't have much on the back line. There best blue-liner who could join the rush is likely Chris Campoli, who is cheap ($625,000) and missed half of last season with a shoulder injury.

The Flyers need defensemen but have no cap space to take a big contract, and Vancouver, while well under the cap, doesn't have much to offer in terms of puck-moving blue-liners.

Either way, Boyle has said he is not inclined to waive his no-trade clause, but doing so could be risky as it is believed Tampa Bay could at some point put him on waivers and expose him to the entire league. If Boyle agrees to a trade, at least he has some control over where he ends up. So it's not a stretch to believe while the Lightning is trying to get something done on multiple fronts, Boyle is doing some research to see where might be the best fit.

Neither Boyle nor his agent, George Bazos, were available for comment Thursday afternoon.

Comments

[Don in St. Pete]

I'd like to clear up a couple misconceptions that have been raised by different people although a little off topic for this thread. Shane O'Brien is not a poor skaer in fact his above average. However he does have an issue with coasting in hi own zone which good coaching should correct. He didn't do that when Craig Ramsay was the coach. Wes Walz is similar to Ramsay the best defensive forward in the league of the last 10-12 years and I can't wait for him to come on board. Similarly Matt Smaby is also an excellent skater, though not fast and will be a star in the NHL and a top four guy within 2 years. I think the new ownership knows this and are just trying to stop gap us until these guys and Ranger and Mihalik come ionto their own.

[Geografer]

Slapshot - I concur but you forgot Kuba (there is $3 million right there). I would trade him before Lukowich.

[ayo]

if Ottawa doesn't get Boyle, sundin, or any other top player they will not be as bad as last year but I think they will finish around 4, 5, 6 in the east. They no doubt will play much better this season.

[slapshot]

here is a smarter idea:

trade Oullet, Jokinen, and Lukowich. They have atleast $5-million put together.

[Don in St. Pete]

Danny Boyle is a benefactor and at the same time a victim of the rules changes after the lockout. You cal no longer bump guys when they don't have the puck or slash their stick. A 5'10" guy like Danny is at a distinct disadvantage to a 6'5" Mat Sundin, Bobby Holik, Kovalev or whoever. He's a warrior and if we'd had the cash to sign a Commodore, Carney or Hal Gill to play with him some of the disadvantage would have been mitigated. We now have pros at all the forward positions which makes the job of the defense easier as they no when to come back and help up when the d gets bottled up and can't make an outlet pass. We were staffed with non-offensive players and carrer minor-leaguers with a few exceptions last year. We could probably get the most value from Columbus as they have the most available comparitive to their needs. Ottawa is interesting but both of the players I've heard mentioned are restricted free agents and looking to cash in next year if not this year. It's a really tough situation but if I OK I still do not trade Boyle unless I make the club better.

i understand all that you have said Don, and painfully have to except this new era, but don't you think we have that Veteran stay at home D- man in Boyle, And why so many forwards? Help me to understand.

[Don in St. Pete]

h29 and rich, welcome to the NHL under the salary cap. How many of you knew Darche and McDonald and Ouellet when they came in last year? This is the way business will be done until we rebuild depth in the minor league system. Look at Montreal. The only signed one player and traded away another because they've been building solidly from within for many years. When these owners took control they knew they needed to make a splash to re-energize the fan base and create excitement and they've certainly done that. Contrary to what leo siad , after we dealt away Ritchie and prospal at the trade deadline, the cupboards were bare, We needed some serious help on offense after having an AHL line playing 4th Line, a 4th line playing 3rd line, and a 3rd line playing second line to end the season. I think the first mistakes and hopefully the last by this management team were signing Gary Roberts and Hall. While I like them personally neither were NEEDED. We could have picked up leadership by signing a veteran stay at home defenseman. We could have picked up grit by resigning Matt Darche. These moves may come back to bite the owners in the butt unless they can work some magic via the trade route. There are teams out there with loads of room under the cap, that are starving for defense. there are a few others that are woefully short on forwards. I'm hoping the new owners are doing their homework tonight to attempt to work other deals that will keep Dan Boyle in a Lightning uniform. Otherwise, don't show your face unless you bring home a great package for DB.

i pay for it every time i buy a ticket, and they would be there if the FANS were not buying tickets.

what was the Bucs record the year after winning the super bowl. Did not the current regime bring in a lot of players that didn't work out, and they had a loosing record a couple of years after. I dont want to see the lighting become a revolving door franchise, trying to get the flavor of the month player, I hope there is some consistency where the team can gell.

[bouncing puck]

why is it your team?

Did you pay for it.

Unlike with Gruden, the Bolts are not coming off a Super Bowl, they finished dead last...worst record in the league and fastest fall from Stanley Cup champions in NHL history due to poor post lockout, salary cap managment and poor adaptation of coach's system to available players..changes were a given...now I think they are a dead heat with Washington for best in the division as the Caps took a step backwards with signing Theodore as their goalie...

[rich]

h29 i was the one that posted that comment, and i agree with all that you posted. Me and my daughter enjoyed the fact that we knew players by name and number, now that it is all changing, it doesn't seem like "our lightning" any more. I am not that naive to think that things don't change, but this has the same feel as when Mr Gruden took over at 1 buc palace. Will this team be any better i hope so, i am a lighting fan so i will remain loyal to the team, but in some way i feel it's not the same.

[léo]

Think you missed your own point, Geo. The Pricberg doesn't NEED a mentor. Gainey went all-in when he shipped Huet to Washington.
Now, some will say (and they have a point, granted) that this did not go well and that Huet would've been useful when the Priceberg melted in the playoffs. But I disagree. (Of course!)
It's GOOD that he Crumbled. It's GOOD that he failed. It's NEVER happened to him before. If you saw him play, Geo, then you know where I'm coming from. This Kid is something special; it doesn't take long to see. But what separates him even more from the pack is his utter calm and confidence, which has been put to the test at ever-increasing levels.
Point is, he's just gotten Stronger. We totally believe in this Kid; hype's got nuthin' to with it; We saw him play with OUR OWN EYES. He's The Man.
So Halak won't play as much as he deserves and his talent (i.e. his value!) will go to waste.
Denis will never be worth as much as Halak will be.
And once Halak is traded, Denis will come up, and if he's lucky?
He might play a game or 2. He won't be "mentorin'" anybody or anything.
Kolzig??? You're joking, right?
Kolzig...who got usurped by Huet...who got usurped by The Priceberg? C'mon, Geo.
The num3 down the chain of RELEGATION is gonna mentor the num1? We didn't "miss" nuthin'.
Kolzig. Excellent goaltender. Reliable, clutch, endurant, great career.
He's finished.
He'd be a good mentor to Denis...
Yo.

[Don in St. Pete]

What a stinking mess Ok has gotten us into. The more I look into things the uglier it gets. The teams that are really stacked on D are pretty tight to the cap or over like ourselves. Any trade of Boyle to them would require taking back salary. Columbus would deal if we had a first line center and they have some prime young d in Hejda and Kesla. Metzaros while young is rated about the same as Boyle defensively. I'm hoping the boys are out there trying to put a package together for a defenseman that could play alongside Boyle. Several teams out there are hurting for forwards including Ottawa. If they can't find any takers there's always a few options that while not the ultimate solution could provide a stop gap to get you to the next step, the trade deadline. Ok and Len. Don't sell Boyle short. Do all in your power to work a deal with other assets first and wait til they come begging if that's what you have to do.

[Mike13]

Damian, seriously, please stop mentioning putting Boyle on waivers. It almost makes me puke every time.

I don't care how far we are over the cap. You don't put a player like Boyle on waivers until the night before the 1st game of the season. That's freakin' 3 months from now!

I'm sure that if push came to shove, they could deal (or waive) a few other players instead (Kuba + Roberts) and viola!

[deanhall]

Hate to see Boyle go. However, I can't see him being traded in anything less that a blockbuster deal for Bolts. At least I hope that the case.

[Geografer]

You want someone to mentor Price (who I saw develop in Tri-City and absolutly love - it is the only reason I would ever watch a Habs game - he is a great goalie and a teriffic person) you get the guy who is his mentor - Kolzig - oh wait - you weren't quik enough to get him. I don't know that I want Denis to mentor him. There had to be someone better out there to do it. My whole point was they were smart enough to at least make it a 2-way deal.

[léo]

Whooooops!

Geographer,
How is it idiotic of Us to sign an ex-NHL goalie to play in Our minor system?
As we speak, YOU GUYS are paying him MORE than We are, so who's more idiotic?
Here are the facts, Geo,
We would've LOVED for Huet to stick around and be a mentor to the Kid. Huet is still too good to be a mentor, and you can't pay a mentor 5.65mil.
Halak is TOO good to be in the minors. He would've refused the qualifier if We hadn't called him up.
Now We got TWO kids in net. Extraordinary kids but kids nonetheless. We KNOW Halak is extraordinary but no one else does. So his value is low. We will play him. And his value will rise. And then We'll probably trade him, cuz the Priceberg will play 65 games a year til the day he retires.
THAT'S where Denis's 2-way contract kicks in, and hey,
He played PERFECT in the Bell Center last year, no?
Yo.

[Berliner]

Mons = much needed comic relief here.

So if SJ just signed Rob Blake, are they still going to be as hard after Boyle?

I think Vancouver and Ottawa are the only real options left.

[h29]

Boltflasher,

Points well taken. I just thought a Mons Venus visual would help cheer people up.

[Boltflasher]

Who knows what other free agents would have been signed or not signed had Rolston agreed to his offer or if Malone had said no. We don't know if Roberts was signed to help lure someone else...its still a long way to the opening game....

[Boltflasher]

You make offers, you don't know if they'll sign or not...common sense guys..

[h29]

Boltflasher,

You excuse management and make them sound no smarter than guys who just cashed their tax stimulus check and wandered into Mons Venus in spite of being late on their mortgage payment.

Maybe they shouldn't have signed Roberts, or maybe they should have hired an accountant who can add up all the spendthrift spending.

Some of us are just venting and gnashing teeth. We'll be over it in short order. You are probably right.

[Geografer]

So Boltflasher - you are saying that our new owners - who want to unite us (what a load of crap) - are not capable of foresight and planning ahead? All other GM's have to do this when signing folks before the trade deadline but they aren't supposed to be responsible enough to do this? He was signed at the deadline - they pretty much knew what most of the options were going to be. They also knew what they had when they made the offers for all the forwards we now have.

[Boltflasher]

People, please stop asking why did they sign him if they were going to move him....STOP and THINK. The Bolts had no idea when they signed DB, they would end up with the Free agents that they ended up with or over the cap as they are now....so STOP it...

[Geografer]

Good to know that OK aren't the only idiots out there today - Montreal just signed Denis to a one year contract. At least they were smart enough to make it a two way deal!

[Berliner]

h29, you made a good post, but I disagree with a few things. I dont feel sorry for anyone that gets traded to another team. He's not a journeyman, he's an asset in the eyes of most clubs and he's being paid (in my opinion) a little too much. This overpaid contract by Feaster (and possibly OK) was done at a time when so many fans were boo-hooing the Richards trade that this caught very little attention.

The fact that OK signed off on it means nothing. It was a smart business move that allowed us to hold an asset, while not letting him go the FA route with nothing in return. At least now we can get a few picks and/or a stay-at-home Dman to take his place. I think he'll be good for another team, but I think we need someone that is brutal in front of Smitty or Olie. This new class of forwards should be able to maneuver the puck out of the zone with the remaining D players.

"We won't get rid of Boyle" may now be up there with "the checks in the mail", "no you don't look fat in that dress",and "of course you are much hotter than Angelina Jolie".

I hope this does not also include "we will never move the team"

[bingo]

This is a joke..... I've just cancelled my tentative purchase of six jeep club tickets Oren. Enjoy the boyles.

[h29]

guess I was too pissed to erase the debris from my post after the word "Saw". Apologies.

[WIZ]

Yeah, watching Boyle get overpaid and no one ever dissented in regards to the signing.
He truly he wants to stay in Tampa, and plays a position that is more difficult to replace a player, especially a offense generator.
This tempers the signings. Malone, Roberts are great three zone players but hardly have the touch that Boyle adds.
Vrbata is terrible defensively, and peaked with his 2007-08 totals and i would hate to think his contract $ came from the loss of Boyle!

[h29]

The nameless post at 5:22 I think put his or her finger on it. The team has changed and many of the loyal fans thought it was theirs. I for one, am taking this personally.

One reason I love hockey and the Bolts in particular is how accessible they are. The organization was so fan-friendly. And that access lead me to believe that the players wanted to be there for the fans. All those hours signing autographs on a stupid red carpet or the access we had to them in Brandon was appreciated.

We live in a complicated and cynical world and sports is the one of the only arenas (no pun intended) where we are still allowed to think with our hearts.

I know Boyler makes millions, and he and his new family can be happy in SJ or Ottawa or anywhere in a house that is a hell of a lot nicer than mine. Yet you have to feel bad for him and his new wife.

And each time the little boys who now run the team pull another thread out of the fabric of the relationship with the fans, the less we will be there for the team. Who is next, getting rid of Mishkin or Espo on the radio? Will Thunderbug be next?

Chemistry is a fragile thing, and so is goodwill with your customers. So thread lightly half men, since you are beginning to cross the line between refurbishing our team and destroying it.

Thank you DFB and all the other current and future casualties of the Saw.

, but As a fan you felt that we had a relationship with these players and that these players earned our loyalty. So Dan Boyle who made a commitment to this town and us fans and

[David]

I'd be curious who exactly was driving when they gave Boyle the last contract. Was it OK, or was it Feaster's last gasp of defiance. I'd have some issues if OK was the impetus for that contract and now decides to move him, but if Feaster managed to slip one in on OK I don't feel it's quite as dirty to try to trade him now.

The difference between the new group cleaning up a Feaster pile, or going back on their own contract is big in my mind.

I suspect it may be right between the two. OK wanted to move Boyle from what I have heard but was convinced by Feasterella to keep him and now he regrets it and is flexing his muscle.

By the way, is the deal done?

well that does it for me. Don't know what to say, i am just really dissapointed. I guess the new owners want to it make it "thier team.

[Chris]

I love Danny Boyle, but if we can clear some salary space, get another good young defender and some draft picks, I think we're in good shape. Most teams rotate 6 defencemen and we already have Paul Ranger (a younger and bigger version of DB), Shane O'Brien (a very talented pointman if he learns to pass the puck), Filip Kuba (who finally started living up to his All-Star capabilities at the end of last year in DB's absence), and steady ol' Lukowich. With Niskala waiting in the wings and the potential of one of the Bolts youngsters (Lundin, Smaby, or Janik...if they resign him) who logged valuable time last year when Torts finally tossed in the towel on the season, it seems we are already in decent shape. I agree that it seems DB headed to the Canadian capital or somewhere out west.

[h29]

I know this is all business and we should not be naive about deciphering between PR and UFA posturing. However...
Why should I not worry that little OK actually loves Vegas and has his own table at the Mirage, or goes to Kansas City regularly to Gates for BBQ?
Why do we believe anything the two half men say who now hold our team hostage?

[jimmy]

putting boyle on waivers would be the absolute dumbest thing i could imagine.

[Elwood P. Dowd]

Smooth move, Ex-Lax. Can you paste it up there 2 or 3 more times???

[Elwood P. Dowd]

Did I see San Jose on the list? Can Kyle McLaren pass a physical?

Who do we want from whom:

Ottawa- Alfredsson (Perfect, then we won't need Roberts OR Halpern)

San Jose- McLaren + many picks X many years

Canucks- Willie Mitchell + picks

Blue Jackets- Klesa + many picks X many years

No one else in the East beside Ottawa will be considered.

Need one good stay at home D-guy and recover a sh8load of picks to clear cap space and show good faith to Norfolk who, after all, handles our future.

Boo-Hoo, DFB will leave and we'll be.... what? We'll be forcing somebody to step up to a level Boyle never knew he could do before he got here. What's the big hairy deal?

Go Bolts!

[Elwood P. Dowd]

Did I see San Jose on the list? Can Kyle McLaren pass a physical?

Who do we want from whom:

Ottawa- Alfredsson (Perfect, then we won't need Roberts OR Halpern)

San Jose- McLaren + many picks X many years

Canucks- Willie Mitchell + picks

Blue Jackets- Klesa + many picks X many years

No one else in the East beside Ottawa will be considered.

Need one good stay at home D-guy and recover a sh8load of picks to clear cap space and show good faith to Norfolk who, after all, handles our future.

Boo-Hoo, DFB will leave and we'll be.... what? We'll be forcing somebody to step up to a level Boyle never knew he could do before he got here. What's the big hairy deal?

Go Bolts!

[sheldon]

I don't have a problem with trading him, as long as the guy shoots right, and he can actually play defense...sorry dan

[Michael S]

Ottawa Senators GM Bryan Murray was the guy who scouted out and signed Boyle, so they go way back. No Mike Keenans.

For what it's worth, Jr's grandma and grandpa are in Ottawa, it's a great town to raise kids in, it's the same time zone, and Tampa Bay is just a short detour from Eugene Melnyk's normal Bermuda to Ottawa run on his private jet.

Something tells me that the Bolts really want him to go to SJ and are twisting his arm about it. He shouldn't. Either Ottawa or stay.

KEEP DAN...............!!!!!..unless its for Luongo
nuff said

[SalesBuzz.com]

So the new owners never intended to pay him his new contract? They (the new owners) are making a huge spalsh and I like what I am seeing...until now that is. Unless Boyle's injury is a factor and we don't know about it, I would like him to stay. Unless of course Luongo is coming here for him.