Projecting the offseason 4th attempt

[dannyb24195]

I promise this will be the last one for a while as it's taking up the board and you guys are probably sick of seing them haha!

Trades

Jonathan Drouin and Andrej Sustr to Nashville for Ryan Ellis and a 2017 3rd round pick

I had Drouin being moved initially then Johnson and now I'm back to Drouin. Outside of Stamkos and Kucherov, Drouin has the highest trade value amongest out forwards therefore will generate a good return. There are also rumors that Drouin is looking for a long term commitment deal were as the Lightning would prefer a bridge deal similar to Kucherov's. Additionally despite Drouin's elite level offense, his play away from the puck is poor hence his team's worst -13 this past season.

Thinking about this Drouin situation, I think the deal will be dictated by the expansion draft as you can only protect 7 forwards and 3 defenseman or 4 forwards and 4 defenseman. I imagine team's are mainly going to exericse the protection 7 forwards and 3 defenseman as if you protect 4 defeseman your going to lose 3 forwards. With this being the case the teams that have deep bluelines could move a defenseman they are unable to protect for other positional asset(s). I therefore think Anaheim and Nashville are the two prime candidates for Drouin. Anaheim could move someline like Cam Fowler or Sami Vatanen but my guess would be Fowler but the Ducks are not a fan of Drouin were as the Nashville front office are and have been interested in him for 16 months. If the expansion draft wasn't in place I don't think this deal would as probably but the fact they could lose a very good top 4 defenseman for nothing, that makes the deal more likely.

As I say the Preds have been interested in Drouin for a while now and would give them a dynamic point getter on their 2nd line. They also add some depth on the blueline with Sustr who can come in and provide as some insurance as their #5 defenseman. For the Bolts they got a dyanmic puckmoving defenseman who is coming off a 16 goal season. He has 2 years left on his deal that pays him just $2.5 mill per which is very cheap for a defenseman on his quality.

Jason Garrison to St.Louis for a 2018 4th round pick

St. Louis are a deep team and every year are in contention. They have a good D core but could use some more depth on the 3rd paring so they grab Garrison. The Lightning retain salary in the deal to help the Blues out and get Garrison off the roster in search off an upgrade.

Pending UFA's & RFA's
Ondrej Palat signs a 6 year deal worth $31.5 million ($5.25 AAV)
Tyler Johnson signs a 5 year deal worth $23.75 million ($4.75 AAV)
Jake Dotchin signs a 2 year deal woth $2.5 million ($1.25 AAV)
Peter Budaj signs a 2 year deal worth $2 million ($1 AAV)

With Drouin moved Palat become the teams #1 priority. He got off to a slow start but finished the season strong and his game is valuable to the team as he doesn it all. Johnson has been injury plauged the last couple of seasons but still remains a core off this team. Dotchin was a real suprise when recalled, player better than anticaped but don't see the Lightning making a huge commitment to a player who is only 35 games into his NHL career. Budaj played well last season mainly for the Kings and could generate interest on the market but bolts keep hold off him to provide a veteran experience around Vasy.

I thik Gourde and Witkowski sign elsewhere as they will likely get a bigger role on another team and I don't see them re-signing McKegg either

FA
Trevor Daley signs a 3 year deal worth $9 million ($3 AAV)
Brian Boyle signs a 2 year deal worth $3.6 million ($1.8 AAV)

The Lightning sign Trevor Daley who is a good fit. He's a puckmoving defenseman who can really skate so having a fast team fits his style of play similar to the Pens currently. With the addition of Ellis and Daley they got two puckmoving defenseman who can generate some much needed offense from the blueline which Yzerman wants as there was a massive drop off in points from Hedman's 72 points to Stralman's 22.

The Lightning also bring back a familar face in Brian Boyle. He didn't want to leave Tampa but down to the nature of the business he was moved. He still has a house in the Tampa area and lives there with his wife and son and they are soon expected another child. Boyle loved it in Tampa and the organization loved him. He could get more money elsewhere but I see him returning on a discount deal in chase another cup.

Team

Killorn-Stamkos-Kucheov
Palat-Johnson-Point
Erne-Namestinkov-Callahan
Paquette-Boyle-Brown

Extras: Froese

Hedman-Ellis
Daley-Stralman
Coburn-Dotchin

Extras: Koekkoek

Vasilvski
Budaj

 

[Bolt Fore]

Callahan is finished as a Bolt . Yanni Gourde will replace Brown or
Paquette or Callahan. Also rather than retain Budaj they will bring up the other
youngster Gudlevsky.

 

[dannyb24195]

Callahan is finished as a Bolt . Yanni Gourde will replace Brown or
Paquette or Callahan. Also rather than retain Budaj they will bring up the other
youngster Gudlevsky.

I don't see Callahan finished as a bolt. I don't think he's the same player he was a couple years back but he's still an effective role player. I'm hoping he can get 10-15 goals next year which isn't a lot considering he's a former 20 goal scorer but if he can kills penalties, provide a physical style of play and provide the much need leadership to this group outside of Stamkos I'd be happy with that. Yanni Gourde is a player who like but with how deap this team is upfront I think he walks for a bigger NHL opportunity elsewhere like Marchessault did. I them trying to keep hold off Budaj as he's a nice vet goalie to have around Vasi plus Budaj showed that he can carried the load in event of an injury. I also believe Gudlevskis is going over to play in europe as of next year.