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2021 Lightning Off Season: Gourde, TB Cap Problems, Retooling, The Rest....


yave1964

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23 hours ago, yave1964 said:

  I watched quite a bit of Tampa Hockey this year, man are they a fun team, they play the game the right way, they have elite talent at nearly every position, I got to thinking of how many future HOFers are on the club in the cap era, Kucherov, Stammer, Vasilevskiy, Hedman, Point. An overwhelmingly fun team to watch. That said, the player who I have grown to love is Yanni Gourde.

 

  He was quietly second  on the team in goals and fourth overall in scoring and then when Kucherov was touched by the water of Lourdes just in time for the Stanley Cup playoffs he bumped down a line and still managed six goals but more importantly, he played a tough as nails 200 foot game, contesting every pass, fighting over every foot of ice giving no quarter in spite of being five foot nine and fearlessly taking on other teams best line. 

 

  Cap issues are going to give Tampa fits this offseason, I doubt that Kucherov will take another season off, they are going to have to move several middle six forwards, names tossed out are Gourde, Killorn, Palat, Johnson, Coleman. Goodrow is almost certainly th first casualty, Of the rest, IMHO Gourde is as close to irreplacable as it gets, as much as I love Killorn I would even give him up before Gourde who can and does center lines and play both wings perfectly as needed. A truly selfless player who could play for me any day and twice on sunday. He is among my top five favorites in the game today. I get it that his cap hit is high at five million and change for the next four years so he probably will have to go but man he is one of those unsung glue guys who you dont know how valuable he is until he is gone. If Tampa does trade him, I hope they have Yzerman on speed dial. 

 

 

I volunteer my Flyers to take him off their hands and help them with their cap issues.

 

I too love the guys game he may not be huge but man he brings it.

 

I give them Patrick and Frost for him.

 

Just saying....

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  • TropicalFruitGirl26 changed the title to 2021 Lightning Off Season: Gourde, TB Cap Problems, Retooling, The Rest....

Yep....sooner or later, the cap situation would catch up with the Champion Lightning.
Has happened to champions of the past and they will be no exception.

Question now becomes:
Will Julien Brisebois navigate this better than previous GMs on other teams who faced the same problems?


The much vaunted "depth" of the Lightning as an organization will be getting its real tests over the next two or three seasons as the Lightning will SURELY lose a good player.....or three....either via expansion draft, trade, or cap casualty.

My thanks to @yave1964 for getting this thing started.
Usually off seasons are "ho hum" for me, but this particular one certainly will not be due to a new team coming into the league (looking forward to the expansion draft), the Champions' dilemmas, and some other things going on with division rivals, which, oh by the way, from the very bottom with Buffalo and Detroit....to the top with the Champs, the Atlantic looks to be shaping up to be a real killer over the several seasons!

Bolts off season stories, notes, speculation, questions and answers....all can go here!

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I will add this in right away from TSN Canada:
Tampa Bay Lightning Steven Stamkos Seattle Kraken - TSN.ca

According to this, Julien Brisebois has thrown in his vote of confidence for Captain Steve Stamkos to NOT be asked to waive his NMC, as it was speculated by some outlets that Stamkos should perhaps be somehow moved to help solve the Lightning's cap problems.

Looks like Brisebois still considers Stamkos a big part of the team (rightly so, actually!) and will look for other ways get cap compliant.

Personally, and at the risk of coming off as a homer (yea, so what? :) ), I am glad the TB GM thinks that is the case.
Stamkos will never be a 40-50 goal scorer again, but what many people seem to ignore is, he has become a much more well rounded player, doing many things (sometimes dirty work things) away from the puck that don't show up on any scoresheets, and is still well liked in the locker room, and a guy who handles the press very well as the locker room voice.

He, along with Victor Hedman, Alex Killorn, and Ryan McDonagh form the very solid veteran leadership core group, and if at all possible, the Lightning best try and keep them together for the sake of locker room stability now, and while NEW future veteran core leadership groups (Point, Kucherov, Cirelli) are further developed into those types of roles.

Stamkos, along with the three core leaders, make up a large chunk of the salary cap, true, but when you see stories of locker room dysfunction elsewhere, of teams lamenting about core leadership on and off the ice, the Lightning should consider themselves fortunate they already have that in place and it makes transitioning new talent into the fold so much easier!

Other ways to find cap relief can surely be found....

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4 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Other ways to find cap relief can surely be found....

 

 

(raises hand) The Flyers will take Yanni Gourde and Cernak off you hands and give you Nolan Patrick and 2021 1st as well as Mason Millman or Yegor Zamula to help with your cap situation.

 

That would free up around 5 mill for you guys...just saying. :bigteeth:

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24 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

 

(raises hand) The Flyers will take Yanni Gourde and Cernak off you hands and give you Nolan Patrick and 2021 1st as well as Mason Millman or Yegor Zamula to help with your cap situation.

 

That would free up around 5 mill for you guys...just saying. :bigteeth:

 

You know, something like that, not only to the Flyers but elsewhere, sadly, may be the case..... but first, I do believe the TB GM wants to see what he can work out with Seattle.
Tyler Johnson is rumored to be the first guy the Lightning try to move. That should come as no surprise as the Bolts put him on waivers during the season with no takers then, when his value was at his lowest.

He came back to life a bit in the playoffs, he IS a Spokane, WA native, thus the stories of him waiving to be exposed for Seattle to take.
By himself he would free up 5M in cap.

Gourde and Cernak may very well be cap casualties, though I think the Bolts try like hell to hang onto Cernak.

I know Flyer fans are down on Patrick, but seems to me, a player like him would actually thrive in a system like the Bolts have in place.
Fast player, good face off guy, likes to shoot..... he would fit in with the Bolts' transition offense and defense who find forwards for tip ins.
He would just need to work on lowering his turnover rates a bit.

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First of the cap casualties... Barclay Goodrow to the Rangers for a 7th round pick in 2022

Lightning lose Barclay Goodrow in trade with New York Rangers (tampabay.com)

This wasn't a shock to anyone following the Bolts (or even to some who DON'T follow the Bolts).... Goodrow played for Tampa Bay for a measly 925K per season, and his tough, no nonsense, blue collar style served the team well en route to two titles.....and he definitely deserves a bump in salary with some term.

Lightning, of course, would not be able to give him that as they try to keep their core intact while trying to juggle things around to be cap compliant.
What's interesting to me is, Goodrow was set to be a UFA at the end of the month and would have walked for nothing, so the Lightning turned him into a 7th rounder.....BUT, it appears the Rangers are so confident Goodrow will like it there with their young talent, that they think they can keep him from walking on them with a multi-year contract.

Wishing "The Jeep" the best and thank him very much for being a key cog in TB's titles.
If the Rangers handle their business properly in other areas to make the team a real playoff contender, they will find Goodrow to be just what they need to compliment their young talent.
 

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On 7/15/2021 at 1:11 PM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Gourde and Cernak may very well be cap casualties, though I think the Bolts try like hell to hang onto Cernak.

 

 

Official #TBLightning protection list (4-4-1) Protected: Cirelli, Kucherov, Point, Stamkos, Cernak, Hedman, McDonagh, Sergachev, Vasilevskiy.

 

Available: Gourde, Palat, Johnson, Killorn, Joseph, Rutta.

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4 hours ago, OccamsRazor said:

 

 

Official #TBLightning protection list (4-4-1) Protected: Cirelli, Kucherov, Point, Stamkos, Cernak, Hedman, McDonagh, Sergachev, Vasilevskiy.

 

Available: Gourde, Palat, Johnson, Killorn, Joseph, Rutta.

 

Yea, I seen that this morning.
Not really liking the idea of exposing Killorn, as I feel he is a core part of the actual leadership of this group.

Of course, the alternative was to expose either Cernak or McDonagh (I would have exposed McD, betting his 6.75M cap hit at age 32 would turn off Seattle) and protected Alex, who likely is a goner if the Kraken have any sense about them.

Gourde and Palat would also be good choices for the Kraken, and two other guys I'd miss, but I honestly feel the Bolts can replace those guys more than they could Killorn.
A first real misstep for TB management? We will see.

I am keeping fingers crossed Julien Brisebois has a side deal in place where Seattle takes Tyler Johnson whom I know the Lightning prefer they take.
 

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45 minutes ago, TropicalFruitGirl26 said:

Julien Brisebois has a side deal in place where Seattle takes Tyler Johnson whom I know the Lightning prefer they take.

 

Yes he is from close to that area Spokane I think don't hold me to that and you will maybe have to sweeten it a little.

 

Maybe a 1st rounder or another prospect to take Johnson.

 

Fingers crossed.

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Though not official yet, it appears, according to "leaks" of the reported players Seattle is taking, that Yanni Gourde will be the selection taken from Tampa Bay.
If true, and with the departure of Barclay Goodrow to the Rangers and the impending departure of Blake Coleman to (presumably) the Dallas Stars, it means the Lightning have work to do replace their entire 3rd line.

Of course any side deals Seattle has made (perhaps with the Bolts as well) will be revealed in the Expansion Draft, along with all official Kraken picks, and it could still mean the Lightning are set to lose another player as well.

First off, losing Gourde will hurt short term for the Lightning.
Heart n soul guy....a player who plays much bigger than his stature suggests....and a player who has a nice, versatile skillset that lends itself to centering a bottom six line, or even being a winger in a top six role.

In the long run, it also means the Lightning are 5.1M freer on the cap (probably with an eye to free up another 5M at least) and that, along with the 2.7M freed up by no longer having Coleman and Goodrow, should go a long way towards relieving the team's crunch situation.

It is by no means "completed work" of course, but it helps, and fortunately, the Lightning do have some forwards just itching to get their shot from Syracuse (Katchouk? Raddysh? Somppi? This could be your time....), as well as other players already on the big roster who may get larger roles (Mathieu Joseph, Alex Barre-Boulet, Ross Colton).

Again, side trades with Seattle, regular trades, expansion draft, regular draft.....all that will still play a part in how the Bolts will try to reshape their roster and attempt to do something not done in about 40 years: capture a 3rd consecutive title!

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1 hour ago, OccamsRazor said:

@TropicalFruitGirl26

 

Brian Elliott signs one year deal in Tampa!

 

Ask, I and I shall receive!!

I actually mentioned this in the chatbox...... NO WAY would I want Elliot to carry the workload, but Vasy plays about 55-60 games a year, Elliot has shown he is fine if used sparingly, he is younger than McBackup, has plenty of NHL experience, will only be making 900K..... I don't think the Bolts were gonna get a better 2G for the price than they did here.

Like the signing, and welcome to Hockey Bay, USA, Brian Elliot! 

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