Speculation: If TB is out of contention at the trade deadline… who would you offer up?

[TampaJay]

Granted, this is widely premature and overly pessimistic at this point, but what players would be trade bait at the deadline if TBL were out of contention. Since TBL is not a break down and rebuild team, could there be some trades that would solve cap problems for next year and actually make them more competitive on a Stamkos healthy team?

Dmen: Garrison and Coburn – may not bring back a lot but would solve cap problems
Forwards: Filppula, or and expansion draft possible selectee like Killorn or Vlady or an RFA we could not afford to keep (Johnson, Palat, Drouin)
RFA Dmen: KK and Sustr .
Obviously a goalie, but would you offer up Vasi if Bishop would re-sign for a low number?
If you were SY, who would you offer up and what would be the possible return.

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[2020 Cup Champions]

Colorado probably wants a good shaking right about now...

 

[Sky04]

I would trade Stralman + for Duchene.

Bishop is the obvious choice, Filppula might be a target at the deadline, try to unload one of Coburn/Garrison as well as Namestnikov. Hope vegas picks Killorn and then retool in the off-season.

That being said, I doubt we completely miss the playoffs.

 

[tjs*]

Any of the guys we'll have to move/let go in the offseason anyway: Bishop, Flip, one of Garrison/Coburn. Probably Boyle, though I wouldn't mind resigning him if we can afford to do so. Callahan, if anyone actually wants him (they don't.) Hell no to Koekkoek and Sustr - we need to improve our defense, not weaken it further, and moving them does nothing to help our cap situation. Finally, Killorn or one of the RFA forwards would probably be available for the right price as we're most likely going to lose one in the offseason anyway, but we wouldn't sell them cheaply as we could simply let Vegas take Killorn off our hands and kill two birds with one stone (cut cap and prevent any of our other players from being taken.)

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

I would trade Stralman + for Duchene.

Bishop is the obvious choice, Filppula might be a target at the deadline, try to unload one of Coburn/Garrison as well as Namestnikov. Hope vegas picks Killorn and then retool in the off-season.

That being said, I doubt we completely miss the playoffs.

Their right side is pretty deep already, but Duchene would definitely be of interest.

 

[BoltSTH]

Cooper's job would be in jeopardy if we are that far out we need a big shake up.
If so the usual suspects Bishop, Cally, Flip, and possibly Garrison.

My guess we are well in the playoff hunt, Cooper's stays, Bishop just walks at the end of the season, and SFY does his Jedi magic and get LV to take Flip or Cally. (assuming they would wave their NMC), or suckers another GM.

 

[LightningStrikes]

Drouin

 

[ltpato]

Johnson, Drouin, Killorn, Names, Garrison, Coburn and Bishop.

Shake it up.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

Johnson, Drouin, Killorn, Names, Garrison, Coburn and Bishop.

Shake it up.

...all of them?

 

[Glide5]

Right now, judging by how clearly this team has given up already, everyone should be available.

Realistically I could see any combo of our big players traded for the right price at the deadline. Johnson, Vlad, Stralman, Garrison, Bishop for impact players but you could also see some odds and ends depth players go more than likely. Guys like Brown, Paquette or even Boyle could be traded for a team needing to shore up their bottom pairings.

My crystal ball is still saying that this will be a non-playoff year where we auction off a few guys to fill in our weak areas, but we wont go completely crazy. Expecting Johnson or Vlad, Brown and Bishop to go this year.

 

[xteesy]

I'd give up Vasi for a very solid defenseman. Vasi is going to be good, but we can still get 5-6 years of quality play out of Bishop. Personally, I feel his confidence is broken from a number of things.

If I were Yzerman I wouldn't have extended Vasi's contract this past summer and waited to do it this summer. I feel that was a major right hook to Bishop in what should be a critical year for him.

Vlad, Cally, & Garrison are on the chopping block as well.

 

[HoseEmDown]

I'd give up Vasi for a very solid defenseman. Vasi is going to be good, but we can still get 5-6 years of quality play out of Bishop. Personally, I feel his confidence is broken from a number of things.

If I were Yzerman I wouldn't have extended Vasi's contract this past summer and waited to do it this summer. I feel that was a major right hook to Bishop in what should be a critical year for him.

Vlad, Cally, & Garrison are on the chopping block as well.

You won't be able to afford the defenseman you want for Vasilevskiy if you resign Bishop. Bishop has to go for cap reasons, Vasilevskiy is half the price and just as good.

 

[LightningStrikes]

We have to consider in order to bring in win-now piece or two we have to give up good young players and picks.

 

[Crunchrulz]

Biship filled a need but with his injury problems late in the season as well as Vasi's play at the NJHL level and the way Wilcox has been coming along at the AHL level, he should be the odd man out. I agree with Cally being offered but that contract will hinder any deal. Garrison and Boyle would be of interest as other have mentioned to teams needing players. Glide5 makes an interesting point in saying everyone should be available. SFY was in Syracuse last night and got to see a very well played game by a team that busted their tails to work together. There are options, it is just a question of whether or not the organization wants to give up younger talent to offset the older contract other teams will be asked to trade for.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

Now more than ever, I think we should not be selling any of the farm for short term solutions. We're too much on the fringe this season for that to be a good idea, I think.

 

[tjs*]

Now more than ever, I think we should not be selling any of the farm for short term solutions. We're too much on the fringe this season for that to be a good idea, I think.

This. The present isn't exactly sparkling and we're built well for the future. If they don't turn it around this season there will have to be some changes made (something that will be necessary in any event due to the cap and expansion), but we have a talented young core to build around; we just have to identify who is truly part of the core and who the complementary pieces are that may need to be swapped out. The one thing we do NOT want to do, however, is panic and trade away the next several years in a desperate attempt to win this season when quite frankly we aren't looking like we're only a piece or two away.

 

[Sky04]

This. The present isn't exactly sparkling and we're built well for the future. If they don't turn it around this season there will have to be some changes made (something that will be necessary in any event due to the cap and expansion), but we have a talented young core to build around; we just have to identify who is truly part of the core and who the complementary pieces are that may need to be swapped out. The one thing we do NOT want to do, however, is panic and trade away the next several years in a desperate attempt to win this season when quite frankly we aren't looking like we're only a piece or two away.

What are you talking about? This is exactly what you wanted No Stamkos and keeping our these "core top-6" guys in tact!

 

[Flat Ronnie]

What are you talking about? This is exactly what you wanted No Stamkos and keeping our these "core top-6" guys in tact!

Haha...exactly.

 

[Flat Ronnie]

Johnson and Palat are the most valuable chips we got. Take your pick. One needs to be traded to get us something worth while and begin the shake-up.

 

[Todd1a]

We need a legit 3rd good defenseman behind stralman and hedman. If we got to give up palat or Johnson to get one so be it.

 

[TampaJay]

I started this thread thinking this was an improbable situation… being out of contention by the trade deadline. My hope is fading. But if I have a half glass full perspective, I do think if we were out of contention, some moves could make us better long tern both for cap relief and filling some holes.

The problem for TBL is, when you are a team out of contention trying to trade with teams expecting a playoff run, they are only going to want to give up a pick or prospect, not a roster player because that will hurt their run. It works for TOR or AZ because they are rebuilding but not for us. Of course SY could turn picks into an NHL player next summer. I say TB needs a puck moving RHD and at least one big power forward with skill… hard to find. Palat or Johnson could get us the biggest return, but cap relief from Garrison, Filppula, or Coburn could equal the same next summer.

 

[These Are The Days]

Let's go over the basics of hockey we already know. I'm talking day 1 stuff over here

1. If forwards drive possession in the offensive zone, the defense's workload is reduced
2. If the forwards cleanly exit through the neutral zone on the forecheck it allows the defense to hang back to counter a turnover
3. If the forwards adequately defend in the neutral zone it allows the defense to go back and collect the puck on the dump-and-chase before the other team can even get to it
4. If the forwards adequately defend in the defensive zone, you free up a defenseman for a break out pass out of the zone
5. Lather rinse repeat

Shut up Sunny we know this already what's your point? The defense is playing poorly anyway.

Well the point is of all these things what are the forwards actually doing well on a consistent basis? It's making an already overworked back end work even harder. We KNOW this is a good defensive corps. One of the best in the league and I see a group that's in a mental block because it's trying to do too much and forgetting even the most basic of fundamentals. There's too much pressure on them because when you go down the line the only player in the top 9 that's playing consistently well is Kucherov. Even great players play poorly when the rest of the team does.

I'm not saying we don't need to address the defense but I think our forwards are becoming a big problem and that's where we need to start first.

But remember folks this is a team that's won 25 playoff games. That's not a fluke and that sure as hell is not an accident. We need to remember that shaking this team to its very core is not likely to help that cause further. You need to establish what your championship core is and work around it.

Sunny's offeason casualties list

Callahan (trade)
Namestnikov
Paquette
Coburn (to expansion)
Nesterov
Point (to the minors)
Vermin (to the minors)

Filppula escapes the knife because he's pulled it together and is practically having a career renaissance and if he were to continue the way he has then I apologize everything I have ever said.

 

[Sky04]

Our complimentary players suck they don't take relief off the core players and disappear in the playoffs. Pittsburgh has their Haglein-Bonino-Kessel weapon as an ace in the hole after Crosby/Malkin, along with a great 4th line with Rust and Cullen, those players made a huge difference, Rust scored both goals in game 7.

Chicago had their amazing 4th line with Kruger being a menace against us, Vermette also burned us, Toews literally did nothing that series and they still beat us handily.

Tampa has no ace in the playoffs, nothing beyond 3-4 players going beast mode and Victor Hedman.

 

[These Are The Days]

Our complimentary players suck they don't take relief off the core players and disappear in the playoffs. Pittsburgh has their Haglein-Bonino-Kessel weapon as an ace in the hole after Crosby/Malkin, along with a great 4th line with Rust and Cullen, those players made a huge difference, Rust scored both goals in game 7.

Chicago had their amazing 4th line with Kruger being a menace against us, Vermette also burned us, Toews literally did nothing that series and they still beat us handily.

Tampa has no ace in the playoffs, nothing beyond 3-4 players going beast mode and Victor Hedman.

You summed it better than I could and I think that's the level of thinking the Lightning need over the next year or so. We need to do a short-term reload and remodel and I think it will do us a lot of good moving forward. We have a great good core and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It'll take probably two years because moving some of these contracts will be very difficult. For as tempting as it is to move a player like Palat to REALLY send a message, I don't want to fracture the TKO line or the Palat/Johnson relationship.

Core of forwards I would keep. Lines are meant to reflect players position in lineup

Drouin-Stamkos- x
Palat-Johnson-Kucherov
x-Point-Killorn
x-Boyle-Brown

Losses: Namestnikov (awful), Filppula (cap), Callahan (cap/too often injured/under-producing), Paquette (sometimes awful/we can do better)

Core of defense

Hedman-Stralman
Garrison-x
Koekkoek-Sustr

Losses: Coburn (cap), Nesterov (awful)

Goaltenders

Vasilevskiy
x

Losses: Bishop (cap)

We're basically trimming the suck off the team and sustaining several cap losses so we can get better players. All said this has to be close to $20 million freed up to find players who are going to make a difference the way a Vermette or Bonino does.

 

[Flat Ronnie]

You summed it better than I could and I think that's the level of thinking the Lightning need over the next year or so. We need to do a short-term reload and remodel and I think it will do us a lot of good moving forward. We have a great good core and I wouldn't trade it for anything. It'll take probably two years because moving some of these contracts will be very difficult. For as tempting as it is to move a player like Palat to REALLY send a message, I don't want to fracture the TKO line or the Palat/Johnson relationship.

Core of forwards I would keep. Lines are meant to reflect players position in lineup

Drouin-Stamkos- x
Palat-Johnson-Kucherov
x-Point-Killorn
x-Boyle-Brown

Losses: Namestnikov (awful), Filppula (cap), Callahan (cap/too often injured/under-producing), Paquette (sometimes awful/we can do better)

Core of defense

Hedman-Stralman
Garrison-x
Koekkoek-Sustr

Losses: Coburn (cap), Nesterov (awful)

Goaltenders

Vasilevskiy
x

Losses: Bishop (cap)

We're basically trimming the suck off the team and sustaining several cap losses so we can get better players. All said this has to be close to $20 million freed up to find players who are going to make a difference the way a Vermette or Bonino does.

Then you basically do nothing. Just keep the team the same.

Ya gotta quit with the whole "don't want to mess with TKO" crap.