Sorry for not post in a long while. It's grind time in school now, so postings may be quite spread out. I do have a project I am working on, however, and that should be out soon. But for today, I'd like to talk about the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Certainly a lot has occured around this franchise since the last time I've posted about the Bolts. They are 7-4-2 since they beat the Blue Jackets back on January 24, they have made several trades, injuries have occured, and the Norfolk Admirals are in first place and in the middle of a team-record 9 game winning streak.
The Bolts have made three major trades leading up to the deadline: Dominic Moore and a 7th round pick to the Sharks for a 2nd rounder; Pavel Kubina to the Flyers for a 2nd and 4th rounder and AHL LW Jon Kalinski; and Steve Downie to Colorado for Kyle Quincey, who was flipped to Detroit for a 1st rounder and ECHL D Sebastien Piche.
These trades were hard to swallow for many fans: Moore always showed heart and hustle, Kuby was a Stanley Cup champion with the Lightning, and Downie was the enforcer and skilled offensive player that always becomes the fan favorite. However, Steve Yzerman was able to aquire a fantastic return for 3 players that, while good, were not great, and not really a part of this team's future. Moore brought nothing special offensively, Kubina is getting older and slower by the day, and Downie took far too many penalties (although, many of those penalties were simple 2 minutes for Being Steve Downie). All three will be free agents this Summer.
For Yzerman to acquire a 1st rounder, two 2nd rounders, a 4th rounder, and two players for three replaceable players and a low draft pick was a steal. The Lightning can now choose to either draft a bunch of top players this year (they will have 2 1st rounders and either 3 or 4 2nd rounders in 2012) and build up the minor league system, or perhaps trade some picks for a top-tier goalie or defenseman.
Speaking of the minors, the Norfolk Admirals are pretty good. As stated earlier, they have won 9 in a row and are in the first place in their division. This is actually hurting the NHL club; guys like PC "Nacho" Labrie, Carter Ashton, Cory Conacher, and Mark Barberio are busy helping the Ads in their own playoff push, and it is actually better for those players to gain the experience of a playoff run than to fill in for the Lightning. The Ads players on the Lightning roster right now - Mike Angelidis, Trevor Smith, JT Wyman, and Evan Oberg - have handled themselves pretty well, but their skill levels are not quite that of the others'.
So, for now, the Bolts will have to push for the playoffs shorthanded, especially with Lecavalier and Hedman out now. Do I think the Bolts can make the playoffs? Yes. But they are far too inconsistant for that to be likely. Right now, the only line that is scoring is the St. Louis - Stamkos - Purcell line. While that line has been out of their mind recently, having little support is not going to push this team to the playoffs.
Perhaps, however, the Lightning can tap into their inner Ray and pull off a miraculous late-season comeback.
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