After two weeks of speculation originally dismissed by the
new owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning the club has traded defenseman Dan Boyle.
Only four days after his new contract with a no-trade clause
came into effect, Boyle agreed to waive the clause to be dealt to the San Jose
Sharks.
Going to the Sharks with Boyle is veteran defenseman Brad
Lukowich in exchange for defenseman Matt Carle, blueline prospect Ty Wishart, a
first round pick in 2009 and a fourth round pick in 2010.
After signing an aging Rob Blake from the LA Kings the
Sharks have now given themselves what they hope to be the final missing piece
of the puzzle in Boyle to put them over the top as a Stanley Cup contender.
Boyle turns 32 in July and despite missing considerable
playing time last season to a freak dressing room injury (a skate blade severed
tendons in his wrist) he’s still in his prime and was capable of posting up 25
points in 37 games last season.
His -29 plus/minus rating ranked among the worst in the NHL
but that is partially due to a Lightning team that was in disarray late in the
season and in freefall in the standings.
On a better team like the Sharks Boyle should be a strong
factor in their offensive game, particularly on the power-play, and with his
experience as part of the Lightning’s 2004 Stanley Cup playoff run makes an
upgrade over the departed Brian Campbell.
It’s difficult to understand the mindset of the Lightning’s
new ownership. They were considered the driving force in the Bolts re-signing
Boyle last season to a five-year, $6.67 million per season contract before they’d
officially taken over ownership of the team.
Then came the Lightning’s recent acquisitions of forwards,
such as Ryan Malone ($4.5 million per season), Vaclav Prospal ($3.5 million per
season), Radim Vrbata ($3 million per season) and Gary Roberts ($1.25 million),
and suddenly the Lighting were pushing perilously close to the salary cap, and
that meant something had to give.
Moving Boyle frees up considerable cap space and the
additions of Carle and Wishart will replace the gaps on the blueline left by
the departures of Boyle and Lukowich, although they won’t replace the
experience of the two and Carle will face the pressure of being one of the
Lightning’s top two defensemen.
Freeing up cap space and getting younger is one thing, but
then why did they even both re-signing Boyle in the first place if the plan was
to load on offense?
Carle and Wishart also won’t address the fact that the
Lighting blueline was thin before they dealt away Boyle and Lukowich.
Carle and Ranger will probably be the top two pairing,
leaving Filip Kuba, Shane O’Brien, Alexandre Picard, Doug Janik and Wishart as
the remainder of the defense corps.
The Lightning now look like a team with strong forward
depth, decent goaltending in promising Mike Smith and recent acquisition Olaf
Kolzig, and a defense corps that could be the club’s Achilles heel.
It’s been an exciting off-season thus far for the Lightning
with all their recent moves, as well as the re-signing of franchise player
Vincent Lecavalier and the selection of future star Steve Stamkos in the entry
draft.
It’ll be interesting to see how well this team, with a
suspect defense and a new head coach who hasn’t been behind an NHL bench in 13
years, looks on the ice next season.
I really wanted the Sens to step up to get Boyle. Who in addition to being exactly the sort of puck moving D the team is looking for, is also a home town boy. But the competing versions of the story seem to be that Ottawa wasn't interested in his contract, or that Boyle wouldn't waive his clause for Ottawa.
The Sharks paid a lot to get him - so I think Tampa did okay here. I heard somewhere that they wanted to sign Jason Smith with the savings (which would be a great signing - except I'm really hoping Ottawa signs Smith, too!).
The owners just lied point blank to all the fans and to Boyle. He says he feels disrespected and lied to. How do you think any potential free agents are gonna feel from this day on ?
The thing that annoys me most is that this should have been done last year at the deadline when boyles value would h ave been greater. Instead they sign him to a ridiculous contract, then look
Very bad in trading him late after agree agent binge that many are questioning. This is a of disaster.
As to the actual deal, I'm still a bit skeptical. Orem koulrs has proven he has a #### for the carle family, who are close to his son. I'd be much happier if it was Vlasic coming back
As it stands this team is in serious trouble defensively next year. Unless coach melrose is planning on instituting the TRAP this is going to be a mediocre team at best.
Back to Boyle, it pissed me off even more that he was dealt when you look at the teams cap number. They are close to the cap but not over. Maybe if the new owners were a bit more cautious in their signings there wouldnt be a problem. I really hope these guys aren't expecting to win under a self imposed cap far below the leagues cap. We went through that the last 3-4 years. This franchise should not be hurting for cash with attendance the way it is. Then again these moves may just drive attendance down.
boltsfan- I think anyone would rather have Vlasic than Carle, but Doug Wilson would never trade him. Carle is going to be a very good offensive d-man, his style of game is a lot like Boyle's. In the future it will probably look like Boyle's presence never left.
I haven't posted in a while, so it's going to take me some time to catch up, but San Jose (and their power play unit) is looking scary good right now to me. I don't know that anyone can knock the Wings off their perch, but the Sharks have positioned themselves as the biggest contender to do it in my view.
I much prefer this move to the Rob Blake deal. I know Blake adds character but I just don't think he's got enough left in the tank for that move to make sense alone. Coupled with this one, though, even I am impressed. They've got the talent and the makeup to go quite far.
As to the Lightning, well, yeah the situation is downright scary. It's unfortunate that some of their solid offseason moves (particularly Kolzig) immediately take a backseat to this PR nightmare. Even if you're in favor of losing Boyle's contract, you can't support the consistent inconsistencies in ownership's story on what they planned to do here. This doesn't bode well for the future...
I love the fact that the Sharks have picked up both a good offensive defenseman and a hard-hitting one with a wicked shot. My disappointment is in the dealing away of Craig Rivet to Buffalo. I guess the Sharks had to cut some payroll, but Rivet was their best defenseman, along with Vlasic. The only thing I can see is old Doug ain't done dealing. It appears he has something in mind in getting a winger for Thorton's line, and was clearing some space. I'll miss Rivet though....he really added to the team!
Always surprises me to see Sharks fans liked Rivet. In Montreal he really was terrible; he'd always lose the puck, screw plays up with horrible passes and would never check. Maybe he just wasn't a good fit on the team, or he elevated his play when he got in SJ. Anyhow, I'm happy for him.
I've heard people say that about Rivet in Montreal. In San Jose though he rarely coughed up the puck, his passes were crisp and accurate, and he scored well on the power play. Positionally he was good as well and a leader in the locker room. I have a feeling he's not going to like it back in the east after his success here. Looks like the Sharks may be moving McLaren while he still has some value to Ottawa. I'd love to see the Sharks get Chris Kelly for him and add some more grit. I know SJ needs another scoring winger, but a little attitude, especially for the play-offs never hurts!
That's the first I've heard that Rivet had been dealt to Buffalo. San Jose is easily one of my favorite west conf teams so I was glad when Rivet joined that squad. Don't care for Buffalo though. The reason Rivet played so much better in SJ than in Mtl is because some players don't do well against the pressure of the intent media and fan base in Mtl. Rivet left and improved. Ribeiro went to Dallas and became a bonofied superstar. Now that Ryder's signed with the Bruins he will probably turn into a gold mine as well.. lol. Wouldn't be surprised if Claude Julien had campaigned a bit to bring Ryder to the B's.
Ryder turning into a gold mine? Good luck to him. He'll probably score a few goals, maybe even 30, but I don't see him becoming am impact player anytime soon.
Didn't you notice most of his goals in Montreal were either in desperate causes or in after the Habs were already 2-3 goals ahead? Not all the time, of course, but still, he's not the kind of player who'll change a game.
I don't understand this move at all. Why give away one of the top-10 offensive D-men in the entire league, when you have no one to step in and take his place? His contract wasn't cheap, but it certainly was in line with other top D-men contracts signed during the last couple of years. I have watched both Cambell and Boyle over the last few years and I would take Boyle every day of the week over him. Cambell is more dynamic, but Boyle is a more all-around player in my opinion. This one is a real head scratcher to me. Do the new owners intend to sign so many forwards that some of them will serve as "offensive D-men"? This is crazy!
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
