Lightning acquire Braydon Coburn from Philadelphia

[HockeyLady]

 

Here's the link: http://lightning.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=755928

[hf101]

@HockeyLady82

 

How do you think Coburn will fit in with the Lightning defense?  Do you see him paired with Matt Carle?

[yave1964]

Coburn came to the Flyers and had a career year in 2008 with a career high in goals, assists, and points, and has been steadily going downhill living off his laurels from seven years ago, as the Flyers fans, not known for their patience, have waited patiently for the past seven years for him to duplicate the season he had, and quite frankly they have been more patient with him than any player I can remember.

All honesty, I don't think much of anything of Coburn, he is a stiff, a body, a guy who shows just enough to keep you coming back expecting more, a flash or two a night followed by long stretches of boring mediocrity. In the right setting, 3rd pair, 2nd power play only, maybe he could be okay. But I think the Flyers were rewarded for their patience by taking Yzerman and the Lightning to the cleaners. A first, a third and a nasty bit of work in Gudas for two good shifts a night, wow not sure what the hell Stevie was thinking.

[SpikeDDS]

@yave1964

Fully agree here. EASILY Yzerman's worst move as GM. Must have been his knee. ;-)

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

I posted about Coburn's debut in the 3rd star thread in the Philly forums, but I will sum it up here:

 

Not a bad debut...he was physical like the Bolts wanted, played decent defense, took on Marcus Foligno...but could still use some work with close quarter skating and puck handling and he will need more time to adjust to his new teammates.

 

Happy with his first game as a Bolt overall though.

If he can consistently put out efforts like last night's, he should be fine.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Some thoughts and pluses and minuses from the trade:

 

-  Radko Gudas is obviously younger, more cost effective, and with a tad more offense than Braydon Coburn. Gudas salary is around $1M, while Coburn clocks in at around $4.5M

-  I really, REALLY liked Gudas. He was a home grown Bolts, developed and coached by Jon Cooper through the AHL and into the NHL.

-  If Gudas continues to develop his game, he has the potential, IMO, to be a Scott Stevens-lite player for any team he plays for.

 

+ Braydon Coburn, at 30 years old, obviously has more experience in the league, including playoffs, and has faced down against some of the league's very best during that time.

+ While Gudas is tough, so is Coburn, and he is a much bigger man with greater leverage and reach at 6'5 225 vs. Gudas' 6'0 205 frame.

+ There is no guarantee Gudas will come back with the same combination of aggression, mobility, and play after having knee surgery.

As we all know, for athletes, knee issues can hamper performance BIG time. Granted, the surgery on Gudas' knee was not deemed career threatening and he is just 25 yrs old, but still, there is always the chance it can adversely affect him, and now the Bolts don't need to worry about that.

 

 

Overall, I hated to see Radko go and to be honest, even if Braydon Coburn works out fine for the Bolts, his salary and cap hit kinda bother me a bit because guys like Steve Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Ben Bishop will be due big contracts in consecutive years after next season.

And that doesn't bring into account RFA contracts due to Drouin, Johnson, Palat, and Kucherov around the same time.

 

So at some point, the Bolts are going to have to shed one or two contracts, via either trade, or letting a player walk.

 

But, on the flip side, Braydon Coburn still brings a physical presence that has been lacking on the Lightning for awhile since Gudas' departure, and he is available NOW, this season, for the playoffs...whereas obviously, Gudas would not have been.

 

I wish Radko Gudas well (but not against the Bolts!) and looking forward to Braydon Coburn possibly proving his detractors wrong as he now gets to play with an overall faster and more skilled group with the Lightning than he had available in Philadelphia.

[HockeyLady]

@yave1964

Fully agree here. EASILY Yzerman's worst move as GM. Must have been his knee. ;-)

Thats actually not true, besides getting Coburn.... We got some other good deals as well with future picks

[JackStraw]

Overall, I hated to see Radko go and to be honest, even if Braydon Coburn works out fine for the Bolts, his salary and cap hit kinda bother me a bit because guys like Steve Stamkos, Victor Hedman and Ben Bishop will be due big contracts in consecutive years after next season.
And that doesn't bring into account RFA contracts due to Drouin, Johnson, Palat, and Kucherov around the same time.

 

Just fyi- Coburn's contract is up after next season as well, so Tampa may just not re-sign him. Hard to say what he would get as a UFA, he's certainly not a #1 so he shouldn't get anything crazy. I think he's probably worth somewhere around what he's making now but could look for more as a last big payday.

[SpikeDDS]

Thats actually not true, besides getting Coburn.... We got some other good deals as well with future picks

Pray tell, can you offer a move Yzerman has made that is worse than this one? I can't think of one.

[HockeyLady]

Pray tell, can you offer a move Yzerman has made that is worse than this one? I can't think of one.

Either way, at out of all the teams that have traded, this one is SO not the worst... and like I aid before we got other things out of it too so...

[SpikeDDS]

That's not what I said @HockeyLady82. I said it was his worst move yet, not the worst move of the deadline for any team. I stand by that statement. @yave1964 said it first. He is right.

[yave1964]

@HockeyLady82

Coburn had a career year in 08, and has done next to nothing since. His career high in almost everything was that year. Giving up a first and a third and Gudas for Coburn was a bad move.

That said, I think that Yzerman has done a great job in Tampa of making them relevant again. Every team deserves a mulligan and this is his.

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Personally, I wouldn't say this move is "bad"...even considering Yzerman did do a bit of an overpay here.

Let's give this trade some time before calling it "bad".

 

After all, Steve Yzerman giving up Cory Conacher for Ben Bishop was a "bad move" too at the time it was made, if you were to go by the general consensus.

Also, some called the acquisition of Anton Stralman "not all that great" and "overpaying based on his last season with the Rangers".

Same with acquiring Kyle Quincey from the Avs (which many Bolts fans liked), then flipping him to Detroit for what if I recall, turned out to be picks or prospects (which Bolts fans DIDN'T like).

 

Even remotely calling those moves bad now seem ridiculous, but at the time they were made, one could make a case that perhaps Yzerman didn't do his homework.

 

The Bolts were in a position where they NEEDED to get a big, physical defenseman who could still play.

If Radko Gudas were healthy and playing well all year, I am sure this trade never gets made.

Gudas did NOT play well this year, he tried playing with the bad wheel, it limited his aggression, and thus his season was non descript.

 

Much like when he signed Matt Carle (now there's a move that could arguably be his 'worst' since being GM), Yzerman did what he had to do to address a need.

When he acquired Carle, the Bolts simply needed skilled defensemen...and no other GMs were falling over themselves to help him or the Bolts get one.

So he overpaid to get one in there.

He simply could NOT go into another season with the likes of Brett Clark, Bruno Gervais, or hoping Mattias Ohlund would make a miraculous recovery.

 

He traded for then flipped picks in order to get both Bishop and Lindback in because have Dwayne Roloson and Matthei Garon as your top choices for goaltenders simply wasn't going to cut it.

 

He got Braydon Coburn because the Bolts are soft on defense, Gudas took care of that, Gudas was not going to be playing, and yet another need had to be addressed, because going into the post season soft was just ASKING to get bounced early once again.

I would have preferred, if Yzerman was going to overpay, to get a guy like Keith Yandle, but then, Coburn is more physical than Yandle, Philly was chompin at the bit to be rid of him apparently, and he was readily available without removing anyone from their current roster that could play now.

 

This Coburn deal may turn out to be "Meh" this post season and into next season....or it may not.

Let's let time be the judge of that.

Only one game in, but I like I said, I liked what I saw out of him.

I will expect many more games like that one for me to be fully satisfied with the trade, but at least Coburn showed what is possible.

 

If Coburn turns out to be everything most Flyer fans (and some non Flyer fans) say he will turn out to be, then the Bolts can turn the page on him once his contract is up.

Yes, they would have given up a first and a third, but right now, the Bolts can AFFORD to do so, due to the glut of very talented players waiting in the wings in juniors and the minors just waiting for their chance.

 

Oh, and let's not forget....the Bolts sent Brett Connolly, a player who most likely was not going to be in the Bolts' plans longterm, to Boston for a pair of picks....two second rounders in both 2015 and 2016.

I'd say that helps soften the blow a bit from giving up a 1st and 3rd this year to Philly.

 

As for Gudas himself, come 2015-16 throughout the season and especially head to head, putting draft picks aside, we will see who got the better end of Gudas for Coburn.

[HockeyLady]

Oye, not gonna argue with you too. I think what I said was legitimate & true but whatever....

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

Giving this thread a mini *bump*....simply because the Coburn trade (in addition to other things done) has the Bolts in the Finals just two games away from a Cup as I post this.

 

Not gonna say Braydon Coburn is anywhere close to being the reason the Bolts are here....but he certainly played his part in more ways than is obvious.

 

For one, with Coburn on the team, the Bolts did NOT have to rely on inexperienced AHL'ers having to log big minutes.

Secondly, the Bolts have been running pretty successfully an 11f orward, 7 defenseman scheme (of which Coburn obviously is a big part of) and that has caused some matchup problems for teams throughout the playoffs.

Had the Bolts NOT had Coburn, and forced to rely on unproven rookies, then I think Cooper stays with the standard 6 D-man, swapping out different guys on the bottom pair every game trying to find a steady 'fit'.....Coburn, with his presence, makes that a non issue.

 

And finally, hey, Braydon Coburn got the FLIPPIN SERIES WINNER against the Red Wings!

Bolts win that first series, and off they went.....now here in the Finals against possibly one of the best teams in the entire NHL for the last 5 or 6 years.

 

Stevie Y made a 'mistake' here, some say?

I think not.......Yzerman seems to be a few steps ahead of many, yet again!

[radoran]

Too many people want to dump on players.

Coburn has Finals experience, is perfectly serviceable and was acquired for the cost of a 29/30 pick.

And the Blackhawks gave up a pair of latelatelate seconds for Timonen.

Both of them are in the Final - as you say, not specifically due to either of them by themselves, but the experience they bring is invaluable.

I doubt either GM is sitting around bemoaning "what they gave up" or listening to anyone crowing about how they "overpaid".

[ruxpin]

@radoran

I won't argue either player.

But Coburn, in particular, has been a terrific asset for Tampa