Lightning owners earn themselves a second honeymoon

On Friday, they acquired the best defenseman in the draft.

On Wednesday, they acquired one of the best defensemen in free agency.

By Thursday, the folks running the Lightning had acquired credibility.

Yeah, we didn't see that one coming either. Particularly after the events, rumors, back-stabbings and tattling of recent weeks.

And, let's face it, there is still a decent chance the Lightning brass will squander that goodwill by the time the summer has ended. But, at least, today, there is a sense of stability. At least there is the appearance of all hands rowing in one direction. At least these guys made it look like they were listening when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman did his marriage counseling gig last week.

What the events of this week have done is give you hope. Hope that the ownership group won't implode like a room of Naimolis. And hope that the 2009-10 season may be Tampa Bay's most interesting since Nikolai Khabibulin left town.

It is premature to say the Lightning is a good team, but there is little doubt that it is a better team. The Lightning could use more depth among the forwards, and is in need of a backup goaltender, but you no longer look at the defense and see a bunch of pushovers.

Free agent defenseman Mattias Ohlund is not just an upgrade, he is immediately the best blue liner the Lightning has had since Dan Boyle. Maybe even longer. And 18-year-old Victor Hedman is the franchise's best prospect on defense in years. And, with his no-trade clause kicking in on Wednesday, Vinny Lecavalier is guaranteed a home in Tampa Bay for as long as he wants one. All in all, this may be the Lightning's best week since 2004.

Perhaps more important than the actual acquisitions is the appearance of a steady hand. General manager Brian Lawton says he is the only one making personnel decisions these days, and you hope that is no exaggeration. The problem is the folks running the Lightning have offered so much disinformation that is hard to have complete faith in anything they say these days. You would like to believe they are all back on one page, but they have a lot more proving to do before you should hand over your trust again.

Still, the past week was not a bad start.

[DIRK SHADD | Times]

Comments

[football]

Earning from the matches is very easy. Now the league organisation is going to increase the pay of players

[Spooky]

I am not sure Ohlund is better than Boyle, that's a reach. He may be more responsible in our end of the ice, but I think slightly less as a puckmover. Still, we're better than we were, so it's a step up. Hedeman adds, even if he's not quite ready for a spotlight. Stamkos is only getting better.

Backup goaltender question: I still say Nitty. He's about the best still available, though we should have moved a bit quicker. In the alternative, maybe Dieter Kochan still needs a job.

Forward: I STILL like Tanguay.He's not too old, and though coming off a rough year, I think he can recover from Artuykyn's shoulder check and has good legs. He could easily sit on the Bolts' forst OR second line. On line 1, he gets a french connection with Vinnie and Marty. On the second, he gets passes from Stamkos and some grit from Malone. Package deal.

OK, maybe so-and-so is right, that we are good with a lack of defensive depth, and nothing on our bottom two lines other than Halpern as our only real forechecker, and a lot of wanna-be's. I'd like to see players in the latter catagory, like Craig, Artichoke and Hall get traded for some prospects, and we get to sign some real depth players. I'd love to have the Toolman back.

Chris "Chev" Chelios: OK, we don't need the depth. And sure, Ohlund is Hedeman's mentor, but Chelly has forgotten more about hockey than most will ever know. He's not going to get any sort of real playing time, so why not keep him on the roster for a spot start, to slow the pace of games with a narrow lead and mainly to coach? So he wants to play? Use him like Detroit did, because that's about all he can expect being a day short of 90 years old. Still, he's an encyclopedia, is an asset in training and a leader anywhere. You know what that means? Player-Coach! If Tick-Tocc doesn't make the grade (and I think he will with conditioning and implementing a scheme) then Chev could be groomed to the head spot. I like the guy.

[D]

Interesting comparison to Boyle. I have to admit I don't know enough about Ohlund's game to know whether the comparison is valid in terms of moving the puck. That's the real root of the Bolts' scoring problem, if you ask me. Does Ohlund make a huge difference in that dept? Either way, I still think Murphy is needed here.

[Boltflasher]

Good commentary John!! The recent events do give hope,....pray they don't mess it up

[seminolejon]

nice summary. go bolts

[goldenbolt]

Sign smaby, GET A COACH (NOW) and sign nitty. We need someone desperately.

[cnw]

I am now beginning to feel a lot better about the team. Everyone was sweating the July 1st date, but now we can breathe a lot easier knowing that Vinny is in control of his destiny. Go Bolts! and hopefully the marriage counseling continues to work.

[Voice of the Turtle]

That the Lightning management has made some promising moves on both the initial draft day and and the opening day of the free agency market seems likely. According to the prevailing collective thinking: Victor Hedman is a lock as a defensive pillar; Mattais Ohlund is far from finished as a strong contributor to winning ways; Walker is a tough and reliable addition to the back line; and, Ashton is likely to develop into a physical spark plug on the wing in the foreseeable future.

It might be correct to say that the repairs of the blueline corps are appearing complete.

A major concern goes far beyond the need for a backup goalie. Perhaps for marketing reasons, the "disinformation" cited by John Romano, may have extended to the viability of concussed netminder, Mike Smith, who is still reported by some to be incapable of full workouts on the exercise bike.

Clearly, if the Bolts enter next season without a reliable goaltending tandem, last year will look like a picnic in contrast to the difficulties that would lie ahead. Contingency planning demands that this be made a major focus for 2009-10. Some of the best #1's and backup guys were gobbled up on the first day of free agency, but a few decent scraps yet remain should the Lightning decision-makers choose to glean what they can from the FA list rather than to take the trading route.

John Romano references the need for another line mate for Vincent Lecavalier. This is by no means an unimportant matter, but it seems to entail less of a sense of urgency at this point than net needs.

The summer is young and a good start has been made, but some vitally important work lies ahead. If the Bolts are to seriously contend next year (and, after the last two dreadful seasons, it seems imperative that they do), it will be more expensive than earlier planning would seem to suggest. Therein lies the dilemma for the boys who hold the prerogatives, but maybe not the cash.

[fishyq]

Stamkos and Marty work great together, keep them on the same line. Kovalev is still available and Vinny could really use a talented line-mate.

[Alex]

I want Tanguay and/or Sykora so bad and as far as goalies, Nittimaki is affordable and not old. I agree with some of these comments. Trade some of our horrible 3rd and 4h liners for money and/or a decent player.

Whats the lightning's current payroll? Does anyone know where I can find it online?

[Jim - NJ]

D- I agree 120% we DO need Murphy. He's got the puck-moving of Boyle with Richards playmaking. I'm dumbfounded why despite what ge proves on the ice he remains so under the radar. Our PP is going to be an issue as the closest thing we have a dman point is ranger. We need a qb and Murphy has been that gold coin for us last year.

[Bolt Fan]

Please, stop with the Dan Boyle references. He was a good offensive player but was a liability on defense. His contract was as bad as the Richards contract because it put the Bolts in a bad position years down the road. Good for the player, bad for the organization. It hurt going through what we went through last year but in the long run the team is better, it will be deeper and have better contracts. The star goalie is 1 to 2 years away from being at the Forum and hopefully the young forwards are not far behind.

[frank]

What are the chances to get the "MONSTER" Jonas Gustavson? in goal.

[RICK L]

glad barrie nixed the v4 trade,hopefully he realized the boyle fiasco was just that a "fiasco", things are looking up.and i wish the season started tomorrow. HOW ABOUT AN UPDATE ON SMITTY !