Confirmed with Link: Lightning sign D Dan Girardi (2 years, $3M AAV)

[Leonardo87]

Like I said, there isn't a metric available that supports what you're suggesting. And it isn't only last year when he was hurt. He's been a fringe NHL player for at least 3-4 years now. Probably longer if it wasn't for Torts coaching his niche.

20 years ago Girardi would have been a very solid defenseman. In today's NHL, not so much.

Yeah I understand your concerns, and would be lying if I said I was not concerned. But like to see how things play out and hope for the best.

 

[MattM92]

Yeah I understand your concerns, and would be lying if I said I was not concerned. But like to see how things play out and hope for the best.

Of course I hope all the evidence is wrong. I hope Girardi turns into a solid bottom 4 shut down defenseman. But there is some pretty overwhelming evidence that he won't. An unprecedented amount of 'overwhelming'.

 

[DFC]

Of course I hope all the evidence is wrong. I hope Girardi turns into a solid bottom 4 shut down defenseman. But there is some pretty overwhelming evidence that he won't. An unprecedented amount of 'overwhelming'.

I just hope he's better than Sustr. Give me a righty better than Sustr, and I'll be happy. We're not in a position where the money really matters. At least not this year. It could hurt next year, of course, if there's some UFA we really want, and can't afford because of all that Girardi money.

But it seems almost like we went after Girardi as insurance on Dotchin. Which is kind of scary.

 

[Leonardo87]

I just hope he's better than Sustr. Give me a righty better than Sustr, and I'll be happy. We're not in a position where the money really matters.

Yeah pretty much this. I am also holding out hope he can be even better than how Garrison was last year.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Yeah pretty much this. I am also holding out hope he can be even better than how Garrison was last year.

If he's better than Garrison it's a win in my eyes.

Speaking of what hf thinks, it seems like they don't share the same doom and gloom the fans here think. A lot of them have TB winning the division or making it to the finals. Not that this means much. Just worth mentioning since we were taking whatever majority Rags fans were saying about Girardi. Granted they watch him more than majority of hf watch our team.

 

[Todd1a]

Girardi is a different style then garrison I think yzerman brought him and Kunitz in to provide leadership and mental toughness for this team. A lot of times our team does not get up for regular season games I could see that a lot last year.

 

[Rschmitz]

Yeah....Garrison was everything they are selling Girardi as being except Garrison shot left and some offensive pedigree and Girardi blocks shots. Whippy

 

[Sky04]

Garrison was a legit #3 for 2 years before this one, there is no way Girardi replaces that and that's where our biggest falloff in the defensive core was last year.

Hedman-Stralman-Garrison in 2015 was a great 1-2-3 combo, Garrison falling off a cliff and no one else stepping up left a hole in the roster, Coburn does his own thing and is usually pretty solid but Garrison was able to anchor a pairing. Garrison is by no means an elite skater but at least he was a mobile one, Girardi is a snail in comparison.

Another reason why this signing is stupid, even if he does better than Garrison last year (which isn't saying much) we still haven't replaced 2015/2016 Garrison and don't have a #3 Dman, Coburn is not that, Girardi is certainly not that.

 

[MattM92]

Garrison was a legit #3 for 2 years before this one, there is no way Girardi replaces that and that's where our biggest falloff in the defensive core was last year.

Hedman-Stralman-Garrison in 2015 was a great 1-2-3 combo, Garrison falling off a cliff and no one else stepping up left a hole in the roster, Coburn does his own thing and is usually pretty solid but Garrison was able to anchor a pairing. Garrison is by no means an elite skater but at least he was a mobile one, Girardi is a snail in comparison.

Another reason why this signing is stupid, even if he does better than Garrison last year (which isn't saying much) we still haven't replaced 2015/2016 Garrison and don't have a #3 Dman, Coburn is not that, Girardi is certainly not that.

Boy it sure would be nice if we had a young LD that was hovering at around 150 games played right about now, wouldn't it?

 

[Sky04]

Boy it sure would be nice if we had a young LD that was hovering at around 150 games played right about now, wouldn't it?

Too late to be crying over Nesterov, he's going to the K

 

[Werewolf]

Not hard to understand ... Girardi doesn't replace Garrison. Koekkoek does.

 

[Sky04]

Not hard to understand ... Girardi doesn't replace Garrison. Koekkoek does.

The guy with 40 nhl games under his belt who's not even sure to be on the roster. Yep. Koekkoek might be able to replace Garrison of last year maybe, not even close to the Garrison in years prior.

 

[TeslaCoilFan]

Yup. Yzerman said that Koekkoek and Sergachev would be competing for Garrison's LD slot. But does that mean Girardi would be the RD partner on the second pair??

I doubt they'd pair rookie with rookie.

Which would leave Coburn LD on third pair with who??

Will it be Dotchin and Sustr fighting it out for 3rd pair RD??? Ooo, Gladiator tournament.

Why keep Sustr if Dotchin is that good? Insurance in case Dotchin implodes? But Dotchin got 2 year contract and Sustr's is for just one year.

And what if Girardi's performance leaves him only suited to the 3rd pair? Will he mentor newbie LHD from the 3rd pair with Coburn moving into 2nd pair with the winner of the Dotchin vs Sustr epic showdown?? Shu actually did pretty well paired with Coby.



Girardi complicates things.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Yup. Yzerman said that Koekkoek and Sergachev would be competing for Garrison's LD slot. But does that mean Girardi would be the RD partner on the second pair??

I doubt they'd pair rookie with rookie.

Which would leave Coburn LD on third pair with who??

Will it be Dotchin and Sustr fighting it out for 3rd pair RD??? Ooo, Gladiator tournament.

Why keep Sustr if Dotchin is that good? Insurance in case Dotchin implodes? But Dotchin got 2 year contract and Sustr's is for just one year.

And what if Girardi's performance leaves him only suited to the 3rd pair? Will he mentor newbie LHD from the 3rd pair with Coburn moving into 2nd pair with the winner of the Dotchin vs Sustr epic showdown?? Shu actually did pretty well paired with Coby.



Girardi complicates things.

There's too many questions regarding our D and what their pairings will look like. That's why I said I wouldn't be surprised if we started out with 8 D on the roster. Let these guys play and figure out what the pairings should be. May the best men win.

 

[2020 Cup Champions]

Yup. Yzerman said that Koekkoek and Sergachev would be competing for Garrison's LD slot. But does that mean Girardi would be the RD partner on the second pair??

I doubt they'd pair rookie with rookie.

Which would leave Coburn LD on third pair with who??

Will it be Dotchin and Sustr fighting it out for 3rd pair RD??? Ooo, Gladiator tournament.

Why keep Sustr if Dotchin is that good? Insurance in case Dotchin implodes? But Dotchin got 2 year contract and Sustr's is for just one year.

And what if Girardi's performance leaves him only suited to the 3rd pair? Will he mentor newbie LHD from the 3rd pair with Coburn moving into 2nd pair with the winner of the Dotchin vs Sustr epic showdown?? Shu actually did pretty well paired with Coby.



Girardi complicates things.

There's too many questions regarding our D and what their pairings will look like. That's why I said I wouldn't be surprised if we started out with 8 D on the roster. Let these guys play and figure out what the pairings should be. May the best men win.

 

[TeslaCoilFan]

There's too many questions regarding our D and what their pairings will look like. That's why I said I wouldn't be surprised if we started out with 8 D on the roster. Let these guys play and figure out what the pairings should be. May the best men win.

Agreed. Training camp and the pre-season games are going to be FUN to watch.

 

[Todd1a]

Yup. Yzerman said that Koekkoek and Sergachev would be competing for Garrison's LD slot. But does that mean Girardi would be the RD partner on the second pair??

I doubt they'd pair rookie with rookie.

Which would leave Coburn LD on third pair with who??

Will it be Dotchin and Sustr fighting it out for 3rd pair RD??? Ooo, Gladiator tournament.

Why keep Sustr if Dotchin is that good? Insurance in case Dotchin implodes? But Dotchin got 2 year contract and Sustr's is for just one year.

And what if Girardi's performance leaves him only suited to the 3rd pair? Will he mentor newbie LHD from the 3rd pair with Coburn moving into 2nd pair with the winner of the Dotchin vs Sustr epic showdown?? Shu actually did pretty well paired with Coby.



Girardi complicates things.

We have always carried 8 defenseman on our NHL rosters for some years now cooper loves playing 7 defenseman every game almost. So I don't see the issues? Sergachev could go back to juniors next year if they don't think he is ready. Girardi was brought here to b the 5th defenseman and he will do good at that. If sergachev makes the team sustr or koekoekk probably get traded for a asset down the road. Remember we can play sergachev I think 9 games before we need to make a decision to keep him or not.

 

[PaulGG]

Agreed. Training camp and the pre-season games are going to be FUN to watch.

Competition is a good thing! Sustr and KoekKoek are on the bubble now and the pressure will be on them. Their development has been years now and they will be gone if they don't stand out in camp and their chances to play during the season. Meanwhile Dotchin, Serge and yes even Girardi stand in the way. Girardi may turn out to be better than either of them.

 

[Leonardo87]

Giradi is going to be better than Sustr and think he would be better than Garrison last season (but that's not saying much) since he was likely Tampa's worst D last season. So it's an upgrade. Not a large one but it's not a step back.

 

[waterboy65]

These things sort themselves out

While the Bolts were relatively injury free in their D last year, I think its safe to assume that injuries are going to play a factor at some point this year so worrying about who is going to be the one left out of the rotation is premature. If I had to guess, all 8 D on NHL contracts will be on roster opening night. After 9 games, if Sergechev is playing well he stays up all year in the NHL. If not and there are no injuries to the Dmen then there is decent chance he could be sent back to juniors.

 

[RussianGuyovich]

serge has to not only make the team, he has to demonstrate ability to play in top-4 minutes, or he's getting sent down.

i don't see a narrative where they keep him in the NHL to get 8:00 toi/game

 

[Todd1a]

serge has to not only make the team, he has to demonstrate ability to play in top-4 minutes, or he's getting sent down.

i don't see a narrative where they keep him in the NHL to get 8:00 toi/game

cooper won't play serg in the top 4 so then he will go back to juniors

 

[The Macho King]

serge has to not only make the team, he has to demonstrate ability to play in top-4 minutes, or he's getting sent down.

i don't see a narrative where they keep him in the NHL to get 8:00 toi/game

Have we ever had a Dman up regularly we played that little? If he's in the NHL, he's going to be getting probably ~12 minutes ES, second PP time I'd imagine.

 

[Sky04]

serge has to not only make the team, he has to demonstrate ability to play in top-4 minutes, or he's getting sent down.

i don't see a narrative where they keep him in the NHL to get 8:00 toi/game

Why would he have to make the top-4? Cooper plays the 3rd pairing up to 16mins a night.

 

[RussianGuyovich]

cooper won't play serg in the top 4 so then he will go back to juniors

you dont necessarily have to be in the top-4 to get "top-4 time".

if he's playing PP and/or PK, and if cooper plays the second pairing with a shorter leash, he could still remain in the ~18:00/night category.