yave1964 Posted February 17, 2020 Share Posted February 17, 2020 (edited) The Tampa Bay Lightning entered last years trade deadline with easily the games best record, running away with the Presidents cup. They stood pat while their first round opponent the CBJ added Duchene, Dzingel, McQuaid and Kincaid, then went on to shock Tampa in a four game sweep. Tampa has decided not to do this again. They gave up promising youngster Nolan Foote who they added in the first round two years ago as well as a first (previously added from Vancouver) for rugged power forward Blake Coleman. Absolutely brilliant move for multiple reasons: 1) it sends a message that although streaking and breathing down the neck of the Bruins that they are not complacent and mean business. 2) Coleman is the kind of forward every team covets, he is rugged and has 21 goals, a perfect playoff type. 3) he is signed for next year as well at a very friendly 1.8 million. With a hard cap, one of Palat or Killorn is almost certainly gone, he will take their spot moving forward. 4) it sets the market for a solid middle six winger at a first and a solid prospect. Those looking to add a Kreider or Athanasiou cheap are now checkmated into overpaying or bowing out. Fantastic move for the Bolts. Great for the Devils as they added promising futures to a team that seems to be in perpetual rebuild. Another move, the Devils traded long time blueliner Andy Greene to the Isles for a second and a ECHL nobody, the second for a 36 year old UFA is a fantastic haul. The Isles have lost Pelech for the season and must not trust Noah Dobson. Great add for the Isles, a solid experience dback ender who can move the puck a bit. A second for him, again, sets the market high. Big winners in these two deals are Coleman, going from last to first, the Devils with a first, a second and foote. Edited February 17, 2020 by yave1964 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted February 22, 2020 Share Posted February 22, 2020 I think the Bolts overpaid just a bit for adding Coleman, but that seems to be the market for depth players these days... good picks and prospects. On the bright side, Coleman DOES make the Lightning that much tougher to play against, he does have another year beyond this one on his very team friendly 1.8M cap hit, and let's face it, the Lightning, right now, can simply AFFORD to give up picks and players because their current team has a few nice young players still, and their minor league system has a number of very NHL possible forwards....although I WAS looking forward to being able to say "the Bolts have a couple Feete in their lineup!" (Cal and Nolan Foote of course)... At any rate, I like the add of Coleman...he is one of those players I admired from afar when I watched a number of Devils games two seasons ago, and while I do think it was an overpay on the part of the Bolts, I also see how necessary this type of move is, especially if the Bolts, who now seem to have inherited the monkey on their backs that formerly plagued the likes of Washington and St. Louis, expect to really put it together and win it all............... and maybe try pulling a Chicago, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, or Detroit and win more than one Cup with this core. Looking forward to seeing Coleman play tonight against Arizona as I didn't get a chance to see his debut against Vegas a couple nights ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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