I don't know the numbers, but my guess is Yzerman's been among the most active handful of GMs in the league since taking over. Aside from never tipping his hand, exactly what has he done to show that he doesn't CONSTANTLY think ahead?
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Speculation: 2015/2016 TBL Roster, Rumors, and Speculation
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I don't know the numbers, but my guess is Yzerman's been among the most active handful of GMs in the league since taking over. Aside from never tipping his hand, exactly what has he done to show that he doesn't CONSTANTLY think ahead?
These Are The Days
Oh no! We suck again!!
It's Cup or Bust because this is the BEST Lightning team we are going to have for the next several years.
1. A possible Stamkos departure badly hurts our chances of winning it all next year. For the record, I've never seen a guy who wants so badly to stay yet it's 4 months to free agency, still refuses to comment, still refuses to update and still refuses to say anything else other than, "I'd like to stay and win a championship" without specifying ANY given time period of how long that is.
If he packs up and leaves July 1st after winning a Cup then does he not TECHNICALLY do that?
2. Cap hell 2016 ... it's a real problem. We are going to lose players starting very soon. How on earth are we going to afford Stamkos at (possibly) top dollar, sign Kucherov to a good deal and expect to keep around guys like Killorn, Brown, Namestnikov, Paquette and JAM?
Players MUST be moved to accommodate if Stamkos returns. You can already scratch Coburn off the list.
Best case scenario is Stamkos returns and we lose a guy like Killorn and Coburn. It'll suck but we can probably deal with it. Worst case scenario is we lose our captain and the Lightning acts like they never saw it coming. Suddenly our "Stanley Cup Contender" needs a number 1 center.
3. Cap hell 2017... Hedman, Bishop, Palat, Johnson... we think we have problems NOW?? That's about $30 million in contracts if Palat and Johnson rebound and play like they did last year.
Players MUST be moved to accommodate that much extra salary. What are the odds we lose a Killorn, Garrison, Filppula or Callahan here? Very high if we keep Stamkos. Hell... there's a VERY real chance we could lose Bishop.
Scenario #1 is Stamkos has left the team and we can afford to keep these guys and we just slug it out and rebuild with what we have. Scenario #2 is we've re-signed Stamkos and we have to more important pieces of our team.
4. A very underwhelming Crunch team is our pipeline right now and the only guy who stands to make the team next year is Slater Koekkoek. Adam Erne is not producing as expected, DeAngelo has been healthy scratched multiple times in the last few months. You better pray they are ready to go after next year because they are the heir apparent to the lost roster spots we will have. The only top 6 prospects we have are Brayden Point, who is in the WHL and Nikita Gusev who just signed a 2 year contract to stay in Russia that starts next year. It will be another 2 years (after this) until we can probably expect either to see time on the Lightning
5. Our competition is going to get better
I meant exactly as I said. We either win it all now or deal with the consequences that comes with keeping as much of this team together as we can.
1. A possible Stamkos departure badly hurts our chances of winning it all next year. For the record, I've never seen a guy who wants so badly to stay yet it's 4 months to free agency, still refuses to comment, still refuses to update and still refuses to say anything else other than, "I'd like to stay and win a championship" without specifying ANY given time period of how long that is.
If he packs up and leaves July 1st after winning a Cup then does he not TECHNICALLY do that?
2. Cap hell 2016 ... it's a real problem. We are going to lose players starting very soon. How on earth are we going to afford Stamkos at (possibly) top dollar, sign Kucherov to a good deal and expect to keep around guys like Killorn, Brown, Namestnikov, Paquette and JAM?
Players MUST be moved to accommodate if Stamkos returns. You can already scratch Coburn off the list.
Best case scenario is Stamkos returns and we lose a guy like Killorn and Coburn. It'll suck but we can probably deal with it. Worst case scenario is we lose our captain and the Lightning acts like they never saw it coming. Suddenly our "Stanley Cup Contender" needs a number 1 center.
3. Cap hell 2017... Hedman, Bishop, Palat, Johnson... we think we have problems NOW?? That's about $30 million in contracts if Palat and Johnson rebound and play like they did last year.
Players MUST be moved to accommodate that much extra salary. What are the odds we lose a Killorn, Garrison, Filppula or Callahan here? Very high if we keep Stamkos. Hell... there's a VERY real chance we could lose Bishop.
Scenario #1 is Stamkos has left the team and we can afford to keep these guys and we just slug it out and rebuild with what we have. Scenario #2 is we've re-signed Stamkos and we have to more important pieces of our team.
4. A very underwhelming Crunch team is our pipeline right now and the only guy who stands to make the team next year is Slater Koekkoek. Adam Erne is not producing as expected, DeAngelo has been healthy scratched multiple times in the last few months. You better pray they are ready to go after next year because they are the heir apparent to the lost roster spots we will have. The only top 6 prospects we have are Brayden Point, who is in the WHL and Nikita Gusev who just signed a 2 year contract to stay in Russia that starts next year. It will be another 2 years (after this) until we can probably expect either to see time on the Lightning
5. Our competition is going to get better
I meant exactly as I said. We either win it all now or deal with the consequences that comes with keeping as much of this team together as we can.
Bolt32
Registered User
I kind of get what he is saying. I feel that we really need to get another top 6 player. Even if we keep Stamkos, we will still need it. Though I do believe our window is open for a long time. Still I want Yzerman gunning to bring us a cup this year. If he can hurry along the process, then by all means I want him to do it. I also don't want to sacrifice the future too much for it either.
Why does our offense "badly need to be switched up"? We started the year bad, sure, but the offense has come around big time in the last couple of months (i.e. as we got healthy). The switch you're talking about has already happened.
These Are The Days
Oh no! We suck again!!
Stamkos + KFC is TERRIBLE, DFC. They just black hole each other over and over again. We have more than enough sample size to prove that and that's pretty much what we're gonna be stuck with since Cooper is gonna probably reunite the TKO line for good. We saw it all of last year and we've seen it for unbearably long stretches this year. The honeymoon caused by the recent production of Killorn, Stamkos and Callahan has made us forget all about their inconsistent chemistry. Every time we saw that group together we were ready to burn Cooper at the stake.
We saw them fail miserably against Detroit in the playoffs, we saw them flicker for about 1 good game against Montreal and we saw them play great against NYR. Then once the SCF rolled around they fizzled out again. Mark my words in about 2 weeks or so we will have to switch up the lines again because Stamkos, Callahan and Killorn are gonna fizzle out. If I'm wrong about this then the drinks are on me. I don't trust them together. We're putting Stamkos with the streakiest players our team and Stamkos is streaky enough.
There is a VERY high chance that line is gonna go AWOL in the road trip. Thus why I'm clamoring so much for change around here.
These Are The Days
Oh no! We suck again!!
I mean solely about the Stamkos situation. Yzerman is a hell of a GM but I don't want to see him get burned here. If he doesn't make a move then he must be confident Stamkos will return. If he doesn't make a move and Stamkos leaves anyway then what? We're gonna be the Atlantic version of the St. Louis Blues with Palat as Schwartz, Johnson as Stastny and Kucherov as Tarasenko. The rest of the offense will have to come from high end grinders and defense that was probably the lowest scoring in the NHL until recently.
That's why I keep pounding the drum for a trade. If you make one for a guy like Galchenyuk it provides a bit of a switch up but also provides an ACTUAL solution to a problem that may very well present itself come July 1st. The worst thing that happens with a trade for a great player today is that Stamkos stays and we have another great player *cough should've been Drouin cough* on the roster.
Maybe I'm just paranoid and overreacting. We've been waiting since 2004 to see another title come to down and I just don't want last year's loss in the SCF to be the closest we get for an unknown period of time.
They probably will fizzle out. At the same time, we're scoring over 3 per game since the beginning of 2016, and even more than that since the ill-fated Calgary game, after which the team had its meeting and we saw a noticeable difference on the ice.
A lot of that has nothing to do with Stamkos or his line. Johnson's healthy, and Hedman has pushed his game to the level we saw in the playoffs. He scoring roughly a point per game over the last 20. The biggest change has been, IMO, structural. We don't regroup in our own zone EVERY SINGLE TIME we force a turnover anymore. Now, at least some of the team, we're immediately pushing the puck up the ice, finally leading to the occasional odd man rush.
I'm not saying we couldn't tweak what we have. But there's no reason to be in panic mode and "switch the offense over" because we had trouble scoring in the first half of the year. We were a top-5 offense the two years before that, and we've returned to that form.
The sky isn't falling. Our window isn't closing. We'll lose a player or two we didn't want to. We might even take a step backward. But the pieces are in place for sustained success.
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These Are The Days
Oh no! We suck again!!
I hope you're right about it because I'm not sold on what I've been watching. Last year I could comfortably discuss why I felt like we could make a run to the ECF without any problem and right now I'm not comfortable thinking we're even going to make it out of the first round.
You're overrating what Stamkos has become. Yes, he still provides offense. But we made the SCF with Stamkos providing, at best, secondary scoring. That's not as irreplaceable as you're making it sound.
We can't really look at Galchenyuk just because Montreal would ask for way too much in order to deal him within the division. We shouldn't deal Drouin to Montreal because that would come back to bite us 6 times a year. I can only imagine the chip THAT kid would have on his shoulder playing against the TB Lightning.
I'm not opposed to a trade. I think we're going to be fairly active at the deadline. I just don't agree that we should be in panic mode right now and start loading up for a single cup run, when it looks like we're going to contend for the next several years.
Money's going to be tight for a lot of teams--not just us. Chicago has been dealing with cap issues forever. They figure out ways to make it work. A lot of our solutions are already here--Kucherov is playing at a different level than he was last year. Hedman has solidified himself as a top-10 (5 maybe?) defenseman in the league. Stralman CONTINUES to develop as a scorer, into his thirties.
Loading up for a single cup run crushes your team far more often than it wins you a cup. We'll probably make a shrewd trade or three. Will we get a PP quarterback? I don't know. Depends on the asking price. I wouldn't want to see us create a hole just to fill another.
But let's not act like the scoring problems have lingered. We're scoring as well as anyone in the league right now, and the 40 games where we struggled to score looks like a small sample size compared to the previous two years. Our bigger issue is depth on defense, which has been exposed, again, by the Garrison injury.
We have skill in the pipeline. We develop kids slowly, so it's ridiculous to panic about what a kid is or isn't doing at 19/20, when most of our core weren't even on the radar (hell, Palat wasn't even drafted) at 19/20.
We also have more money coming off the books, and more movable money, than people realize. We can absorb a reasonable Stamkos contract. It'll probably cost us a player, but we can absorb that too. Or maybe we'll decide it's best to just lose Stamkos. Either way, it won't be a crippling loss. The only crippling losses to this team would be Hedman, Bishop, and probably Kucherov and Palat. Maybe Stralman. Not saying it wouldn't hurt to lose Stamkos, but he's not irreplaceable.
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Stammertime91
TBL: TEAM OF THE CENTURY
I'd like to go after Ladd or Staal, even though I don't like either, as I feel they'd propel us to being in the finals, but we just can't do it. Sadly, I don't think we are getting a top 6 player til the summer if Stamkos departs. About our best chance is Drouin's return yielding us something close.
Carle, Coburn and Condra probably won't be here next season. That's over 10m off the books. Possibly losing Flip or Killorn via a trade and the possibility of losing Stamkos, another chunk off the books, I'm not ready to say the sky is falling. We will still have the triplets, a solid bottom 6, a solid top 4 and one of the best goalies in the league. Not to mention one of Bishop, Gud, Vasy will yield a nice return if one gets traded or alleviate cap space if anything.
We really just need a top 6, with size and great two way abilities, and an offensive dman. The world isn't ending just yet for us.
Carle, Coburn and Condra probably won't be here next season. That's over 10m off the books. Possibly losing Flip or Killorn via a trade and the possibility of losing Stamkos, another chunk off the books, I'm not ready to say the sky is falling. We will still have the triplets, a solid bottom 6, a solid top 4 and one of the best goalies in the league. Not to mention one of Bishop, Gud, Vasy will yield a nice return if one gets traded or alleviate cap space if anything.
We really just need a top 6, with size and great two way abilities, and an offensive dman. The world isn't ending just yet for us.
ThunderAlleyNomad
Registered User
- Aug 24, 2009
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Or there is no move to be made. Even if he's 99.99% certain Stamkos is going to bail on July 1st, that doesn't mean a trade will be made. There isn't necessarily going to be a #1 center available for trade just because we will need one. Even the Gally rumors are just that, rumors.
I understand why you're nervous, I think we all are to a certain extent. This season has not gone as planned, Drouin went nuts, Stamkos is playing hard to get. I would still rather not hit the panic button, and I don't think we're in a desperate situation. Nor do I feel it's a true Cup or bust situation this season.
Todd1a
Kucherov or prospect
I really think we should rent Andrew Ladd ! I think that puts us over the top in the east! I'd like a rhd but with Garrison coming back I think we will be ok. Renting Ladd would be good because it gives us a fall back option if we can't sign Stamkos. Trade drouin for Ladd are we really going to get anything great long term for drouin anyway? Grab Ladd take a big run at the cup!
There are going to be decent to good UFAs available in the next few years if you guys are really concerned about the top-6. Loui Ericsson and Mikkel Boedker (Okposo, too?) will be available this offseason. Next season Thornton, Marleau, and Sharp will be >35 UFAs. Steen goes to UFA, Benn, Shattenkirk, and Burns, as well. Everyone in the league is going to have the same kind of decisions as we do.
We might not make it out of the first round. But that makes it even more improbable that we'd be able to "load up" for a single run at the cup this year. But, despite the looming cap issues, this is also unlikely to be the best team we'll be able to put together in the next half decade.
People remember last year with rose-colored glasses. Throughout the year, our boards were filled with doom and gloom. We're steadily building. We have a good young core that might well be a great young core--the jury is out. Going all in for a cup in a single year is almost always a bad idea, especially when it looks like you have a chance at sustainable success.
Stephen
Moderator
- Feb 28, 2002
- 78,417
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The Lightning are reaching a weird Jason Giambi/Scott Hatterberg moment in salary cap management. Stamkos is a big name player (and I'd love to see him in the other blue and white, not going to hide this fact), but if you expect him to be a 60-70 point guy over the next few years and you decide to replace his current "secondary scoring" production with Mikkel Boedker at $5.5-6 million, you're actually getting a $1.5-2.5 million cap savings on the current deal, and possibly freeing up as much as $5 million on the renegotiated deal.
Not the easiest decision to make there.
Not the easiest decision to make there.
Definitely true, especially since, other than some weirdly solid penalty killing, Stamkos doesn't bring much of a two-way game. We can probably get better value on the dollar elsewhere.
That said, just because something is a problem, doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad problem. In a lot of ways, it's a luxury. We can either overpay for a guy we know and like, or we can move on and spend the money elsewhere, possibly on two players.
Would that leave us without a true #1C? You can probably argue that we're without a true #1C right now, with how easily Stamkos is shut down at ES these days.
The key to everything is Johnson. Because of injuries, we still don't really know what we have in him. Things would be a lot clearer right now, one way or the other, if he hadn't been so slow for the first half of the year. Because even if it turns out he's exactly the player we thought he was last year, now the injury question will always be there.
Todd1a
Kucherov or prospect
That's what yzerman wants which is why I don't see him as a all in type of gm. I was surprised he traded a 1st 3rd and gudas for coburn last season
Sky04
Registered User
- Jan 8, 2009
- 29,034
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Stammertime91
TBL: TEAM OF THE CENTURY
Todd1a
Kucherov or prospect
LTIR Trickery
Plz stop pucks
Just because we're not a media circus and you don't hear **** every day out of the team doesn't mean parts aren't moving behind the scenes.
RegularSznAllStars
Registered User
- Sep 23, 2014
- 1,996
- 805
Exactly. Unless our window is closing, I dont like the "all in" mindset.
I am surprised at how many people want ladd at the reported cost that has been leaked.
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