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Commissioner Gary Bettman maintains the status quo in Tampa Bay Lightning front office ... for now | Main | Midday sports report »
You wanted to know about the Lightning front office. The NHL Draft. Vinny Lecavalier's future. Times beat reporter Damian Cristodero took your questions for more than an hour this afternoon during a live chat. Click the link below to read a complete transcript.
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Don, I like all of that except we velcro Murphy as #7. Then show those young guys they have an actual chance.
Geez, how many times can we vote to landslide the Reader’s Poll on the Lightning Front Office with a no confidence of “Neither”?
Why isn’t Creepy Boy & Wife among the motley choices?
It’s Wednesday, I’ll take TWENTY FIVE PowerBall tickets!
Go Bolts!
Posted by: Casper | June 24, 2009 at 03:08 PM
By tonight we should no if the players voted for the 5% Cost of living raise. If not the cap ceiling would drop to about $54mil and the floor to $38mil, based upon what I've been reading. That would put the mid point at $46mil. We could get to $45.5mil and keep V4 by finding a home for Vrbata, drafting Hedman, and not tendering Krajicek and Welch, and also not resigning Murphy and Petiot. That would leave one of Mihalik, Quick or Wishart as the 7th Defenseman.
Posted by: Don in St. Pete | June 24, 2009 at 02:48 PM
Oh, it now says replay....duhh!!!!
Posted by: Boltflasher | June 24, 2009 at 01:58 PM
Oh, Ok!....Thanks!!
Posted by: Boltflasher | June 24, 2009 at 01:57 PM
Boltflasher - It's a chat...just hit replay and you'll get the full transcript.
Posted by: ZERO | June 24, 2009 at 01:52 PM
One last point,
The NHL contributed no money to the Coyotes, they merely paid their bills/debt. Could be the case here. I am wondering if Bettman "killed" a proposed trade to the Habs during the meeting. "Best interest of the league."
Posted by: oldtimer | June 24, 2009 at 01:41 PM
Boltflasher,
Also I made the implication that the NHL may be currently running the team as they secretly ran the Coyotes for a whole season with nobody knowing it. My implication was based on the obvious financial trouble the current owners are having and the need to meet with Bettman over the running of the team. Damien has a source "high up the food chain" who tells him the NHL has not contributed any money to the team
Posted by: oldtimer | June 24, 2009 at 01:33 PM
Boltflasher,
Basically there were a lot of questions regarding the possible trade of V4. Damien believes that he will NOT be traded anytime soon. He believes that both Barrie & Koules must sign off on the deal and that Barrie will not do it. There was also a discussion on what to do with the #2 pick if Hedman is gone. Opinions vary but I liked Damien's suggestion of taking Tavares and then listening to offers from other teams. Some rumors posted included Palace Sports taking over the team on 08/01/09 and a statement made to a Toronto paper by Koules that neither owner wants to trade V4. It was a great chat and Damien was informative as always. By the way Damien's new nickname is "Ramen" (lol)
Posted by: oldtimer | June 24, 2009 at 01:27 PM
Can one of you guys who were able to listen in recap briefly what Damien went over?...
Thanks
Posted by: Boltflasher | June 24, 2009 at 01:18 PM
Interesting the comment by Callie alluding to Palace Sports and Entertainment.
Posted by: Don in St. Pete | June 24, 2009 at 01:16 PM
Damian's answer about how much the payroll will be makes the most sense of any answer I have heard so far - no higher than what you can spend and still get revenue sharing. When the midpoint salary cap is determined for next year, we'll probably know the ceiling of what the Lightning will spend.
Posted by: Patrick | June 24, 2009 at 01:15 PM
Leanmean - Great question!!! Here is my interpretation of the answer. Barrie said he wants to keep, and OK says smart to listen to offers.
What this means to a writer who wants to create a buzz is OK wants to trade V4 and drop team salary to low 40s. pfffft...
That equals no conformation of Romano's story, at least from Damien.
OK, himself said 49 mil 2 weeks ago. Maybe that is 48 if 48.5 is the mid-point.
Posted by: 2WayCenter | June 24, 2009 at 12:43 PM
Please Trade Vinny.. We have come in LAST with him for 2 years now. Marty is the heart and soul of this team NOT VINNY. trade him and get some players who are hungry.. not an over paid EX Wannabe Superstar who really hasnt lived up to expectations!!!
Posted by: colt99 | June 24, 2009 at 12:28 PM
Damian its become obvious over the past 12 months that OK and Barrie have short pockets. They have not paid off Palace who are still on the hook for the franchise.
Does Palace have a say on trading a major asset like V$ given that they very well may get the franchise back?
Posted by: PD | June 24, 2009 at 12:02 PM
Damian,
If the Isles take Hedman, what do you think the Lightning should do?
What do you think of them trading down to fill some of their holes on the blueline and scoring depth at forward off the hype around Tavares?
Who would be willing\able to give up a lot for Tavares besides Toronto?
Posted by: Patrick | June 24, 2009 at 11:57 AM
Here’s a loaded question: Since the St. Pete Times demonstrates abject ambivalence toward site and personal privacy security on the Lightning Strikes blog; would then, they have no issues with citizens hacking the SPT database to locate the cavity, drill the tooth and permanently fill the hole?
Go Bolts!
Posted by: Casper | June 24, 2009 at 11:36 AM
i want to know why u dont hear of any talk about washington trading ovechkin. or maybe the penguins trading malkin or crosby. maybe its because those guys make the team there on. just like vinny. hes the franchise player of the lightning along with st. louis. and one of the very top player in the nhl. just the thought of the lightning giving him away is terrible. lets see how much money the lightning save by trading him, then lets seeing how much they lose by everyone not going to game and canceliong there season tickets. the owners of the lightning cant even get along. every season they give away great players. lets just keep doing it guys, since we won the cup, every year we get worse and worse. obviously getting rid of good players isnt the way to go. why dont we just bring norfolk to tampa and play with the minor league team, how does that sound?
Posted by: mazda13b88 | June 24, 2009 at 11:22 AM
If the three ring circus has Brian Lawton in one ring, Len Barrie in another and Oren Koules in the center ring, at what point does Gary Bettman become the ringmaster as he was in Phoenix?
It's obvious now that Ringmaster Bettman was the man behind the curtain in the Coyotes trade of Joikinen to Calgary as a salary dump. Will he be the authority that moves Lecavalier out of Tampa?
Posted by: oldtimer | June 24, 2009 at 11:12 AM
I am very concerned for this franchise. Trading Vinny Lecavalier would be a huge mistake, I think it is bordering on the death of this franchise. Do you see them doing this, and do you think the return will be great since the whole league knows they're desperate to get rid of Vinny? Also don't you think they'd lose more money by trading Vinny with the loss of sponsors and 5,000 (maybe less) people in the stands after they do this?
Posted by: Leanmean43 | June 24, 2009 at 11:10 AM
My question regards goaltending, and our approach last year vs. this year. I know there was a lot of confidence in Mike Smith going into this past season, and yet we acquired Olie Kolzig to back up Smith. This year, with more confidence but less certainty with Smith (who I believe can handle the job when healthy), why are we not looking for someone to help fill in? It is a matter of priorities, shoring up defense before dealing with goaltending?
Posted by: amma.marfo | June 22, 2009 at 12:37 PM