Heading Into the Trade Deadline…

With the NHL trade deadline less than 48 hours away, there is plenty to talk about for the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Let’s start with the Olympics…

Lightning Olympians:

First of all, I would like to extend a big “Congratulations!” to Team Canada on their gold medal victory.  It was a thrilling gold medal final and good on Canada for winning at home for the first time!

I would also like to extend my congratulations to Lightning players Ryan Malone (USA) and Antero Niittymaki (Finland) who won silver and bronze medals respectively.  Malone put up 3 goals, 2 assists, and a +2 rating through 6 games in the tournament.  Unfortunately for Antero Niittymaki, the tournament MVP of the 2006 Olympic Games, he did not get to play in net for Finland due to a combination of Miikka Kiprusoff’s demand to be the number one goalie and Niklas Backstrom’s more impressive resume.

Andrej Meszaros had no points but a +1 rating through 7 games for Slovakia.  He and Zdeno Chara were the shut-down pair who helped to lead Slovakia to a 4^th place finish at the games (the highest in their history).  Mattias Ohlund was part of a disappointing campaign for Team Sweden, as the 2006 Olympic Champions were upset in the quarterfinals by the Slovakians.

Coaching Change:

In the midst of the Vancouver Olympic Games, the Lightning announced a coaching change as they appointed Jim Johnson (former head coach of Tampa’s AHL affiliate the Norfolk Admirals) as a replacement for former assistant-coach Wes Walz.  What I like about this move is that Johnson led the Admirals to a 13-2-2 record after taking over as head coach there and may help to provide the Lightning the boost they need to make the playoffs.  He also specializes with working on the penalty kill, an area that Tampa Bay seriously needs to improve on to be a contender (they rank 22^nd in the league).

What I don’t like about this move is that it comes at an odd time for the Lightning.  A disruption with the coaching chemistry, as Rick Tocchet was NOT consulted on this move and unhappy to see his buddy Walz go, could spell potential disaster for this team on the brink of making the playoffs.  I also don’t like that this move leaves Norfolk without its head coach, as the team was really starting to turn things around and are in the midst of a playoff race themselves.  Only time will tell if this move was the right one and if it doesn’t pan out, GM Brian Lawton’s job here will likely be very much in question.

Trade Deadline:

The NHL 2009-2010 Trade Deadline is set for March 3^rd at 3pm.  With (all but finalized) new owner Jeff Vinik funding the team and willing to increase payroll, look for the Lightning to be buyers at the deadline.  In my opinion the team could use:

-a top-6 forward (seeing as Alex Tanguay hasn’t panned out as planned)

-a bottom-6 forward who plays a solid defensive game but can chip in some offence too (unless Mark Parrish really dazzles us during Tuesday’s Philadelphia game)

-a mobile, puck-moving defenseman (unless Paul Ranger, by some miracle, returns ready to play…which doesn’t look likely)

In reality, it would be nice if the Lightning was at least able to add a decent forward who potentially could play well on a line with Vincent Lecavalier.  Upcoming UFA forwards Alex Tanguay and Jeff Halpern may be used as trading chips as they (Tanguay especially) have not put up the kind of numbers that the Bolts need from them.  Defenseman David Hale may also be seen as expendable as he has filled the role of a 6^th defenseman well when needed, but has not been able to earn a solid spot on the team.

Be sure to keep checking HockeyIndependent.com for the latest take on trades, extensions, and all other things hockey during the Trade Deadline!  This Friday, I’ll be providing an in-depth look at the moves (or lack thereof) made by Tampa Bay at the Trade Deadline.

Contact Information:

For breaking Lightning trade information and other news, follow me on Twitter here!

Also, you can always email me at mikep.hockeyblog@gmail.com if you have any questions, comments, or concerns about the Lightning or anything I write!

Be sure to also check out the Hockey Independent Lightning Fan-Page on Facebook!!

Thanks for reading!!