So, the Tampa Bay Lightning shipped defenseman Dan Boyle to the San Jose Sharks and got a heck of a package in return.
Young puckmoving defenseman Matt Carle and a first round pick are heading to the Bolts, along with prospect Ty Wishart and a fourth round pick.
Boyle is one of the more overrated players in the league, and his contract ($6.67 million a year for the next five years) makes Bryan McCabe look like a bargain wrapped in shiny blue paper.
So the Lightning makeover takes a huge step forward, while Doug Wilson's reputation as a general manager takes a big hit.
Unfortunately for Tampa Bay, the trade is one of the only smart moves they've made this summer. The only others were having Steve Stamkos fall into their laps and signing Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts.
The Lightning are making the same mistakes that landed them in this position in the first place. Once again, Jay Feaster, possibly the most overrated general manager in the entire league, is trying to build his team around offense.
"Goaltending? Defense? Nah, we don't need that. We have Lecavalier, St-Louis, and Stamkos! Who can beat us? We're the Edmonton Oilers of the 1980s!"
Earth to Jay! The Oilers had Grant Fuhr in net, along with Kevin Lowe, Charlie Huddy, and Randy Gregg on the blueline.
Paul Coffey couldn't play a lick of defense and neither can Dan Boyle. That's where the similarities end.
"Well, we won the Cup with Lecavalier and St-Louis. So there!"
Jay, you also had a guy named Khabibulin in the net, and then you let him go to keep your precious forwards that landed you in last place.
In the last week, Tampa Bay has signed a plethora of wingers: Malone, Roberts, Vaclav Prospal, Radim Vrbata, Adam Hall, and the list goes on.
On the team's website, the intro says that they have "players to excite us" and nine of the 10 players listed are forwards.
The other one is goalie Olaf Kolzig, who was signed on July 1. Now, I love Olie, but he doesn't do a thing to help this team move forward. If anything, he puts them five points out of the playoffs instead of 15 points out.
All that does is give Tampa a lower draft pick and set back the rebuild.
Oh, I forgot. They're not rebuilding.
So, we've looked at the forwards and goaltender brought in during the offseason. Now let's talk about the NHL defensemen added by Tampa Bay through free agency.
Um...That's right. Not a single defenseman.
Tampa Bay spent more than $14 million per season to bring in their shiny new forwards, and that's on top of the big pay cheques given to Lecavalier and St-Louis. That's $5 million more than they are spending on their entire blueline.
Yes, Carle and Paul Ranger are good building blocks, but beyond them there isn't much here. When Kolzig retires in another year or two, this team will be right back where it started.
Scoring four goals a game, giving up six, and finishing 15th in the Eastern Conference. Even Steve Stamkos isn't going to change that.
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about 1 month ago
You're right Josh, I still don't feel that comfortable with their goaltending either, even though I am a big fan of Kolzig.
The unnamed prospect is defenseman Ty Wishart who hockeysfuture.com ranked third on the Sharks prospect list. A lot of people think he could develop into a force in the NHL down the road.
their defence and their goaltending is not really great
about 1 month ago
Ty Wishart? Man. I repeat, what the heck is San Jose doing?
about 1 month ago
i disagree with you that boyle is overrated...i think that he really is very good. but great article, nonetheless
about 1 month ago
If they were gonna trade Boyle, whether you agree with it or not, Matt Carle is a nice piece to get back.
about 1 month ago
Kevin, at the beginning of the article I said they got a fantastic deal for Boyle - it's the other things they've done that I disagree with.
about 1 month ago
They aren't the Oilers of the 80's, they're more like the Detroit Tigers heading into this season—added a lot of shiny new pieces, but they aren't really addressing what needs to be with the team.
The Tigers added what was perceived to be a great starting pitcher and a great thirdbaseman, but their bullpen was still terrible. The Lightning have added some quality forwards, but they didn't fix the fact that their defense was porous, and their top three defenders were a minus 50. No there's no real leader for this defense, and it'll be a painful learning experience.
With the Tigers heading into the season, it was said they had the potential to score seven runs a game, but they could also give up 8 a game. The Lightning could possibly score four or five goals a game, but they're also likely to give up five or six per game two, especially if Olie doesn't age particularly well.
Granted it's baseball, but I figured it's applicable. Good work Josh,
BT
from about 1 month ago
Good analogy Bryan, you nailed the gist of my article.
about 1 month ago
I really like Dan Boyle and I think you were a little too hard on him but other than that you are spot on. i am a Pens fan and I have a suspicion that Ryan Malone will be more or less worthless without Malkin and Sykora. Adam Hall will be a fantastic player for you though. Good luck to the Bolts next year.
about 1 month ago
A bit confused about this rant, they trade a defenseman who you view as too uni-dimensional (offensive) for defenseman to replace him and they did nothing to improve their own end?
If they were everything you accuse them of, they'd have kept Boyle or dealt him for more forwards.
about 1 month ago
For the Bolts to truly "rise from the ashes" they needed to land a key D-man like Rob Blake (which i never figured hed leave) or Brian Campbell. Redden would have even probably done the job, but instead it is, like you showed, that they only hope to out score the opponent. Nice article.
about 1 month ago
great article josh. i think this is a bad trade for san jose, and a great one for tampa
about 1 month ago
The trade helps Tampa now, as it gives them cap space. It helps them in the future, because Carle and Ty Wishart both have tremendous upside.
But also barring any moves via trade or free agency, the Lightning defense top six will be Kuba, Ranger, Carle, Picard, Obrien and Niskala
Doesn't sound like a championship blueline.
And even though I am a big fan of Olie Kolzig, I am unsure he or Smith can be the answer in goal for T-Bay.
about 1 month ago
you'll understand what you're getting when Matt Carle starts turning the puck over in the defensive zone and then Kolzig gives up a goal gloveside with 3 minutes left in the 3rd period to give the Thrashers the lead.
from about 1 month ago
hahaah yuupppp. dont start saying the sharks got ROBBED when you obviously didnt see how carle REGRESSED last year. yes he has potential but from how i saw him play, and i watched every single sharks game, he really isnt that solid on D. and the sharks definitely stole one from the lightning by getting boyle, man im stoked. you see how boyle jumps up in the play to score? yeah, carle never does anything like that kid.
about 1 month ago
Dan Boyle simply had an off year last year due to the fact that he almost cut his arm off in a freak skate-falling-off-a-locker incident during preseason. In 2006-07 he scored 20 goals and 63 points. Those are impressive numbers. He skates as well as any defenseman in the league and has Niedermayer-like ability to jump into the play. This trade, though certainly somewhat detrimental to San Jose's future, is a great step in making San Jose very dangerous next year. After the success they had with Campbell last year, this is the type of player that they need.
from about 1 month ago
San Jose has a pretty deep team at Worcester. Not as deep as three years ago, but i'm not worried about losing Wishart. If Tampa can produce him into a NHL caliber level, then great. He wouldn't have fit in with the Sharks.
from about 1 month ago
BOYLE had an off year? Carle fell off so badly (2G, 13 A, -8 in 62 games) he was demoted and scratched for almost the entire playoffs. Boyle still scored two points every three games (25 in 39), he just didn't play that much due to that freak injury. Granted, he was an ATROCIOUS -29, so that does worry me, but until last year he was only -13 for his CAREER. He also gives us two blue liners who have won a Cup, and he is +6 with 22 pts in 45 career playoff games.
It hurt to give up Wishart, but we have spent enough time building for the future--we need to win NOW.
about 1 month ago
I gotta disagree that the Lightning are making the same mistakes. As a matter of fact they are far from doing that. New owners Koules and Barrie are being very proactive in the market and dumping some old owner salary. Tampa had put far too many eggs in one basket. They had one line of offense and that was really it. The team has added a decent blue liner in Carle, veteran leadership in Roberts, A good PK center in Hall, a real decent forward in Malone, and added a veteran goalie in Kolzig for 1.5 million for a year while they see what Mike Smith can do and if Ramo becomes what they think he can become. Tampa has also said they will be adding 2 more d men. They are at 47 mil. Not as bad as it seems for the Bolts at all.
about 1 month ago
Whoever wrote this article obviously has never seen this team in person and probably hasn't even watched them on TV. Dan Boyle was a huge asset to this team, one of the top five offensive defenseman in the league and a critical part of the powerplay. The Bolts already had a problem on the blueline and this just vastly exacerbated it. The only way to justify this is if they're sure they can sign someone of impact immediately with the bit of cap space they freed up.
about 1 month ago
Greg, bit of a low blow don't you think? I never said anything about Boyle's offensive ability. No one can dispute that. And yes I've watched Tampa, plenty of times.
They still got a great return for a guy making as much money as Boyle did.
about 1 month ago
And now they've added Mark Recchi. Sure, he was cheap, but wouldn't that money have been better spent on a stay-at-home D? Seriously, with all the wingers they've added, Recchi will see third-line minutes at best.
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