Speculation: The 2015-16 Lightning: Our team next year

[These Are The Days]

Alright so that sucked. I'm devastated beyond words right now but talking about next year feels therapeutic for me. I'm personally under the impression that next year is Cup or bust given the fact that we were so close now. Mods feel free to delete the thread or just have it buried if me creating this thread is redundant.

Going forward it excites me to think that we are likely to have the EXACT same team minus a few players but the changes will hardly be radical. I'll give it a whirl as to what we can expect the team to look like this coming season

Forwards

Drouin-Stamkos-Callahan
Palat-Johnson-Kucherov
Killorn-Filppula-Namestnikov
Paquette-Boyle-Brown

Defense

Hedman-Stralman
Garrison-Coburn
Carle??-Nesterov??
Koekkoek

Bishop
Vasilevskiy

Big prospects in the pipeline

Erne
DeAngelo
Koekkoek -potentially if we send him back down
Point
Peca

The most interesting aspect to me is what the defense will look like. As far as I'm concerned Nesterov has earned a spot in the bottom pairing with Carle. And for all intents and purposes I think Koekkoek looked fantastic in the few games he got to play and I am all for us putting him in as our #7 guy and giving him sheltered minutes and spot PK duty at the start the season on the nights we go 11 forwards 7 defensemen and slowly mature him into a bigger role in the team and by season's end he is playing regular minutes. He'll start the year as the healthy scratch and pay his dues like Kucherov and Drouin before him. But by the all star break you put the kid in on bigger and bigger minutes and groom him for the top 4 role. I don't think it's a secret that we are going to expect him to be our #4 defenseman when Coburn's contract expires. I think he's going to be a quick learner and I think he will be up to the task.

As far as I'm concerned, Sustr better played his last game for us. That kid is a flaming bag of dog **** every time he hits the ice. I know I'm being hard on him but I've NEVER seen anyone screw up as much as he does. He and Andrej Meszaros are the two worst defensemen I've had the privilege of watching in my 10 years as a Lightning fan. If he is still on the team next year I'm gonna pull my damn hair out.

Lastly: I do think we are going to move Carle but I DON'T think it will be immediately since his cap hit is not going to cause us issues to start the season . I think he would accept a trade to a potential contender that's willing to do a deal such as an Anaheim or a Pittsburgh but I don't know what they'd do with him.

The cap relief alone will be compensation enough.

ITS CUP OR BUST NEXT YEAR GUYS! LETS GO LIGHTNING!!

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[CupsOverCash]

I just hope Carle and Morrow are gone. Complete deadweight. They are on a roster they just don't belong.

 

[Todd1a]

Alright so that sucked. I'm devastated beyond words right now but talking about next year feels therapeutic for me. I'm personally under the impression that next year is Cup or bust given the fact that we were so close now. Mods feel free to delete the thread or just have it buried if me creating this thread is redundant.

Going forward it excites me to think that we are likely to have the EXACT same team minus a few players but the changes will hardly be radical. I'll give it a whirl as to what we can expect the team to look like this coming season

Forwards

Drouin-Stamkos-Callahan
Palat-Johnson-Kucherov
Killorn-Filppula-Namestnikov
Paquette-Boyle-Brown

Defense

Hedman-Stralman
Garrison-Coburn
Carle??-Nesterov??
Koekkoek

Bishop
Vasilevskiy

Big prospects in the pipeline

Erne
DeAngelo
Koekkoek -potentially if we send him back down
Point
Peca

The most interesting aspect to me is what the defense will look like. As far as I'm concerned Nesterov has earned a spot in the bottom pairing with Carle. And for all intents and purposes I think Koekkoek looked fantastic in the few games he got to play and I am all for us putting him in as our #7 guy and giving him sheltered minutes and spot PK duty at the start the season on the nights we go 11 forwards 7 defensemen and slowly mature him into a bigger role in the team and by season's end he is playing regular minutes. He'll start the year as the healthy scratch and pay his dues like Kucherov and Drouin before him. I don't think it's a secret that we are going to expect him to be our #4 defenseman when Coburn's contract expires.

As far as I'm concerned, Sustr better played his last game for us. That kid is a flaming bag of dog **** every time he hits the ice. I know I'm being hard on him but I've NEVER seen anyone screw up as much as he does. He and Andrej Meszaros are the two worst defensemen I've had the privilege of watching in my 10 years as a Lightning fan. If he is still on the team next year I'm gonna pull my damn hair out.

Lastly: I do think we are going to move Carle but I DON'T think it will be immediately since his cap hit is not going to cause us issues to start the season . I think he would accept a trade to a potential contender that's willing to do a deal such as an Anaheim or a Pittsburgh but I don't know what they'd do with him.

The cap relief alone will be compensation enough.

ITS CUP OR BUST NEXT YEAR GUYS! LETS GO LIGHTNING!!

oh I think we are moving carle and bringing something else in there! sustr idk i think we keep him but we will not give him a spot if he can't cut it. morrow is gone something else will come in there to replace him. I see stevie moving carle to clear some room for things he wants to do.

 

[ThunderAlleyNomad]

Honestly any changes that we want made should be addition by subtraction.

Morrow not re-signed.

Carle traded or tossed into the Glades with alligator bait strapped to his neck.

Sustr left behind in Chicago with a sign declaring him to be the living incarnation of the Cubs Curse.

There. I just made the team better.

 

[These Are The Days]

I think if anything Namestnikov gets Morrow's old spot on the roster. Drouin was healthy-scratched for a 7th defenseman on a regular basis and Morrow got to play every night so I think of it as Drouin already had a spot and Morrow's is the one up for grabs.

I'm really excited to see what Vladdy is gonna do. I think he will be able to pitch in around a dozen goals and somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 points while playing a 2 way oriented game. That kind of depth is invaluable even if it doesn't seem like a lot. I don't think he's gonna get time with the big dogs on even strength and any extra points would have to come on the power play because we are top heavy on forwards anyway.

Callahan's gotta score at least 20 goals at minimum to make himself worth what we are paying him and I greatly favor keeping him with Stamkos because he can sneak in and score very deceptively when everyone is drawn to Stamkos.

 

[DFC]

I just hope Carle and Morrow are gone. Complete deadweight. They are on a roster they just don't belong.

I agree, but I'd like to spin the wheel on another backup goalie. Move Gudlevskis and let Vasy play 45 games in the AHL, Wilcox as his backup. I don't want him rusting on the bench again.

If we can move Carle, it'll be a miracle. It's hard to imagine any team wanting him after the display he put on in these playoffs, and any team that WOULD want him would have to be so bad that Carle would likely refuse to waive his NTC. This is one where we have to hope for SFY's jedi powers.

Morrow's gone. I wouldn't mind seeing us sign another vet, but hopefully we learned a lesson with Morrow and the next guy will be have the legs to keep up. Either that, or Coop will understand you can't run battle-worn legs into the ground and it's not a bad thing to put the guy in the press-box now and again.

 

[wxkid23]

I really think we need to look at what we have in Stamkos. He could be a drain on the cap or a gift with a trade

 

[Volodya Krutov]

It's more likely SFY trades Carle and re-sign Sustr since we have no depth on the right side... On the other hand, it would be safe to keep Carle until one of Nesterov/Koekkoek clearly demonstrates he's ready for the task. Still I don't see Yzerman being ok with starting another season with the Carle-Sustr circus again.

I'm totally ok with Cooper's tactic to roll all 3 pairings throughout the season and playoffs for obvious reasons but he'll need more depth to take advantage of this strategy. I expect several moves from SFY to improve our defense.

 

[xteesy]

Drouin's in with Stamkos permanently.

TKO "might" get broken up for at least 15 games from the start. We know it works, let's see if we can make something even better.

Carle & Morrow are gone.

Sustr, I legitimately see him being traded. He's the far less physical version of Hedman. Good player, but I don't think we have a spot with Nesty & Koekkoek around the corner.

I don't see Erne making it to the NHL next season, Koekkoek will probably get a good # of games (similar to Nesterov this season).

I think we "might" move Brown. Unless he shows up to training camp and he's nailing every shot, he's going to be tough to keep. I love him and all, but he can't score whatsoever. Boyle & Paq are on the 4th line and they put up very solid numbers this season.

 

[CupsOverCash]

I agree, but I'd like to spin the wheel on another backup goalie. Move Gudlevskis and let Vasy play 45 games in the AHL, Wilcox as his backup. I don't want him rusting on the bench again.

If we can move Carle, it'll be a miracle. It's hard to imagine any team wanting him after the display he put on in these playoffs, and any team that WOULD want him would have to be so bad that Carle would likely refuse to waive his NTC. This is one where we have to hope for SFY's jedi powers.

Morrow's gone. I wouldn't mind seeing us sign another vet, but hopefully we learned a lesson with Morrow and the next guy will be have the legs to keep up. Either that, or Coop will understand you can't run battle-worn legs into the ground and it's not a bad thing to put the guy in the press-box now and again.

I don't think it's as hard as we think to move Carle. D-men are high in demand. Carle may have been bad on our team but he is still valuable to some other team. Why? Because he was on our cup final team. He gives another team a guy who has been there and played some minutes for us this season. Some team will want him.

 

[DFC]

It's more likely SFY trades Carle and re-sign Sustr since we have no depth on the right side... On the other hand, it would be safe to keep Carle until one of Nesterov/Koekkoek clearly demonstrates he's ready for the task. Still I don't see Yzerman being ok with starting another season with the Carle-Sustr circus again.

I'm totally ok with Cooper's tactic to roll all 3 pairings throughout the season and playoffs for obvious reasons but he'll need more depth to take advantage of this strategy. I expect several moves from SFY to improve our defense.

We keep talking about trading Carle like it's going to be easy. It won't be. He'll have to take a paycut to leave Tampa and the only teams interested will likely be bottom-feeders (unless you can find a contending team in need of a severely overpaid D). Good luck getting Carle, who has a NTC, to sign off on that.

 

[DFC]

I don't think it's as hard as we think to move Carle. D-men are high in demand. Carle may have been bad on our team but he is still valuable to some other team. Why? Because he was on our cup final team. He gives another team a guy who has been there and played some minutes for us this season. Some team will want him.

You're ignoring the fact that Carle, himself, has the final say.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

Several teams will need to reach the salary floor like every year right ? Carle would be the perfect candidate.

 

[Coopers Gum]

Any good free agents this year?

 

[DFC]

Several teams will need to reach the salary floor like every year right ? Carle would be the perfect candidate.

You think Carle would be willing to pay more taxes to go to one of those teams? It's his call, not SFY's.

 

[These Are The Days]

Stamkos may go through cold streaks but we were eating our words in the NYR series. Trading him would be the worst mistake this franchise has ever made. Is he worth $12 million? Hell no but I don't think he would ever ask for that much anyway. I'll take the good with the bad with him.

His worth is negotiable unless he does something like turn in a 57 goal 101 point performance next year. He is perfectly capable of that kind of production assuming there's a power play that actually functions and parks him in the left faceoff circle and not in the slot with 4 players surrounding him.

If he holds the team hostage and demands a ******** more than he's worth then that's the only circumstance I'd trade him. To be fair if he has a great season I'd start in the neighborhood of what we were paying Vinny before we bought him out. If he's peaked though, then I would think that's too much for him.

 

[Todd1a]

We keep talking about trading Carle like it's going to be easy. It won't be. He'll have to take a paycut to leave Tampa and the only teams interested will likely be bottom-feeders (unless you can find a contending team in need of a severely overpaid D). Good luck getting Carle, who has a NTC, to sign off on that.

After the marty st.louis deal I don't think matt carle will go against stevie yzerman! trust me yzerman will trade carle somewhere good! Carle will sign off on it! could see carle going back to philly np.

 

[CupsOverCash]

Stamkos may go through cold streaks but we were eating our words in the NYR series. Trading him would be the worst mistake this franchise has ever made. Is he worth $12 million? Hell no but I don't think he would ever ask for that much anyway. I'll take the good with the bad with him.

His worth is negotiable unless he does something like turn in a 57 goal 101 point performance next year. He is perfectly capable of that kind of production assuming there's a power play that actually functions and parks him in the left faceoff circle and not in the slot with 4 players surrounding him.

If he holds the team hostage and demands a ******** more than he's worth then that's the only circumstance I'd trade him. To be fair if he has a great season I'd start in the neighborhood of what we were paying Vinny before we bought him out. If he's peaked though, then I would think that's too much for him.

They aren't trading Stamkos. I just don't see it.

 

[DFC]

Stamkos may go through cold streaks but we were eating our words in the NYR series. Trading him would be the worst mistake this franchise has ever made. Is he worth $12 million? Hell no but I don't think he would ever ask for that much anyway. I'll take the good with the bad with him.

His worth is negotiable unless he does something like turn in a 57 goal 101 point performance next year. He is perfectly capable of that kind of production assuming there's a power play that actually functions and parks him in the left faceoff circle and not in the slot with 4 players surrounding him.

If he holds the team hostage and demands a ******** more than he's worth then that's the only circumstance I'd trade him. To be fair if he has a great season I'd start in the neighborhood of what we were paying Vinny before we bought him out. If he's peaked though, then I would think that's too much for him.

Agreed. I've been among Stammer's most consistent critics, but I do NOT want him moved. If he wants to be the highest paid player in the NHL though, it's a different story, because he was nowhere close to the best player in the NHL at any point this year, including when he heated up vs. NYR.

We'll see if anything leaks about his contract demands. Once we have a number to kick around, it'll be easier to weigh in on what we hope happens.

 

[Volodya Krutov]

We keep talking about trading Carle like it's going to be easy. It won't be. He'll have to take a paycut to leave Tampa and the only teams interested will likely be bottom-feeders (unless you can find a contending team in need of a severely overpaid D). Good luck getting Carle, who has a NTC, to sign off on that.

Carle is notoriously overpaid but I'm not sure the rest of the league sees him as a complete liability, his experience would be useful on many young teams. As for his NTC, it's always the same thing, Carle like the others in the past will move it once he understands he's no part of our future plans (if SFY wants so), those guys have some self-esteem and they want to play also.

 

[Todd1a]

You think Carle would be willing to pay more taxes to go to one of those teams? It's his call, not SFY's.

good luck facing stevie look at st.louis no contract right now! stevie would have extended marty in tampa and shown class. I doubt carle fights it! he knows after next year he goes anyway we need the cap room.

 

[These Are The Days]

They aren't trading Stamkos. I just don't see it.

Neither do I. There is no trade in the world in which we would get a fair trade for him. For argument's sake lets say the Leafs came a-knockin. Who the heck are they going to give us? Kadri? Phaneuf? Nylander? That's not a fair trade at all! They wouldn't give up Kessel. The only interest I'd have would be their draft picks.

And for the simple fact he's our superstar and our captain I'm inclined to agree with you.

 

[Todd1a]

Neither do I. There is no trade in the world in which we would get a fair trade for him. For argument's sake lets say the Leafs came a-knockin. Who the heck are they going to give us? Kadri? Phaneuf? Nylander? That's not a fair trade at all! They wouldn't give up Kessel. The only interest I'd have would be their draft picks.

And for the simple fact he's our superstar and our captain I'm inclined to agree with you.

I think stamkos stays in tampa but if he gets to greedy who knows maybe stevie moves him if toronto offers something insane.

 

[TheSchmidt]

I'd chop my left nut if they traded Stamkos unless he demanded it.

Offense should stay the same. Just more Names and Drouin. Could see him maybe trying to upgrade Garrisn or Coburn, but I don't have a problem with them next year. I think it'll be a quiet offseason except for changes on the third pairing.

There really isn't much to do. This was about as even a series as you could get. We get one or two bounces and Stamkos is hoisting the cup.

 

[DFC]

Carle is notoriously overpaid but I'm not sure the rest of the league sees him as a complete liability, his experience would be useful on many young teams. As for his NTC, it's always the same thing, Carle like the others in the past will move it once he understands he's no part of our future plans (if SFY wants so), those guys have some self-esteem and they want to play also.

Yes, they want to play, but not necessarily for Carolina, where he'll also be giving up considerable money with extra taxes.

Are there teams who would take him? Of course. But are any of those teams teams that Carle would be willing to go to? That's where it gets tough. I think he'd rather try to beat out Koekkoek and Nesterov in TB, while making more money, than go freeze in Toronto.

The one way I see this happening is if we take a bad contract, from a contender, in return.