Contact: Francisco Churruca (555.867.5309, thebest@thefastestgame.net)
Raw Charge Signs JustinG. to an open-ended contract
The Internet –Raw Charge has signed free agent blogger JustinG. to an open-ended contract to provide original Tampa Bay Lightning content for the leading hockey website. Terms were not disclosed.
JustinG., aged but still hearty, penned 54 posts for The Hopeful Chase as a free agent writer in 2015. While the majority revolved around the Lightning he has been known to branch out to cover boxing, trading cards and, every once in awhile, baseball. The Harrogate, England native set career highs in 2011 and 2012 when he posted 111 and 75 time respectively. He was wildly unemployed at the time. The Hopeful Chasewas the second blog he started, the first being Is This a Wasteland, a chronicle of life as a sports fan living in Tampa. Dozens of people besides his parents enjoyed his writing.
His only “journalism” background came in college where he wrote for the school paper. His college roommate was named athlete of the month by the paper multiple times because JustinG was too lazy to interview anyone else. He also wrote about squirrels taking over the campus. He has never won an award for his writing.
Talent scout, Arriaga II, was quoted as saying, “We really think JustinG. will put the ‘Raw’ in Raw Charge. With his spelling errors, hazy memories and almost criminal disregard for even the basic fundamentals of grammar it will be a challenge editing his posts, but hopefully he watches a YouTube video or something and improves. He wrote for a college newspaper? Unbelievable. At least he works cheap.”
JustinG. was never drafted by a professional team. He tried out for the Minnesota Twins in high school. Not only did he not make it past the first cut, he also managed to lose a glove.
While his Lightning writing will migrate to the Raw Charge, his other rambling and barely coherent thoughts will continue to be published here. We apologize for that.
There was a blip of news in the
Lightning world today as the club announced they were signing forward
Yanni Gourde to a one-year, two-way deal. It's not quite the same as
if, say Nikita Kucherov signed a deal, but it's still something. Mr.
Yzerman brought back a player who was familiar with the system and
should have a nice role in Syracuse with the occasional call up to
Tampa Bay.
Gourde did pick up two games of NHL
experience along with an assist last season when the Lightning
forwards were ravaged by injury. He caught a bit of the bug as well
as he suffered an injury to his finger during his two game stint with
the club before being sent back to Syracuse.
He had a solid year in the AHL racking
up 44 points, but not good enough to make the Black Aces Squad for
the post-season. The Lightning did tender him an offer to retain his
rights earlier this off-season and wrapped it up with the contract on
Monday. He has an uphill battle to make the Lightning in training
camp, but he will be a leader in what will hopefully a competitive
Crunch squad.
That's nice and everything, but if
Gourde is playing significant minutes for the Lightning, something
has gone wrong. However, I did think that it solved something that
has been bothering me all summer. Who would be the Lightning's
representative in Upper Deck's Young Guns collection this year.
For those of you who may not be aware,
every year Upper Deck releases their flagship product in two series.
Series one usually rolls out in November and features six or seven
veteran players from each team. The final 50 cards (well 49 and a
checklist) are all rookies and have the Young Guns logo splashed
across the card. As these are usually seeded about one in every four
pack they aren't the easiest cards to obatin, thus they are usually
one of the more sought cards for highend players.
For instance Connor McDavid's version
from last year is selling for between $130 and $150 on eBay right
now. Steven Stamkos is closing between $45-$60 at the moment. Those
numbers will go up as the season begins, especially if McDavid
continues to play well.
Last year Slater Koekkoek and Joel
Vermin represented the blue and white for the Bolts, this year, well
I'm not quite sure. Every team usually has at least one player with
a couple getting two. The Lightning have been well represented the
last couple of years. Koekkoek and Vermin last year, Vlad
Namestnikov, Jonathan Drouin, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Cedric Paquette
the year before and Alex Killorn, Richard Panik, Ondrej Palat, Nikita
Kucherov and Tyler Johnson in 2013-14. That's a pretty solid
release.
While you think, “Hey why not just
throw Brett Howden on a card, case closed.” Unfortunately the NHL
and the NHLPA have some guidelines for who gets to appear on licensed
cards. The number one rule is be a part of the union I'm sure, but
the most important is that the player has to participate in an
official game. So that eliminates Mr. Howdon.
But McDavid made it into last year's
set! Yes, and there is a good chance Auston Matthews will be in this
years. Upper Deck usually gambles that the top pick will make it
onto the ice before their product drops in November (also one of the
reasons that the flagship product releases a month after the season
starts). Sets that are released earlier in the year like MVP or
Artifacts include rookie redemption cards. Cards are inserted into a
pack with a code. You go to the website and enter the code. Months
(hopefully only months) later the card ships. That way they can wait
until the player skates in the game before releasing the card.
So now that you know a little more
about hockey rookie cards, let's look at who the Lightning might have
represented in this year's set.
Yanni Gourde – Did he participate in
a NHL game? Yes! Twice! Has he had a card released in Upper Deck's
base set, yet? No? Awesome! However (there is always a however) he
did appear in the “Update” set of Young Guns that was released in
Upper Deck SPA. So he's out.
Mike Blundin – He got into 20 games
for the Lightning. Wait he's 29? And been in the league since
2006-07? I did not know that. But he's never played more than 40
games for a team so maybe he doesn't have a card. He does? And it's
a Young Guns card? Wow.
Matt Taormina – Yeah, he's old like
Blundin, but he's been buried in the minors forever! There can be no
way he has a card. He does? From 2010-11? The Lighting really
are in between prospect classes right now.
Nikita Nesterov – Nope. He was in
the 2014-15 SPA update series. Stupid updates.
Tanner Richard – While he did not
actually get into a game last year he was called up for the December
20th match against Ottawa. Depending on if being a healthy
scratch counts as participating in an official game he might get the
call.
Kristers Gudlevskis – He officially
deputed in 2013-14 and added another game in 2015-16. He's actually
been in sets before, most notably the 2014-15 O-Pee-Chee set and
Upper Deck Black Diamond. However, he has never made the base set.
His lack of experience might hinder him a bit. Playing time doesn't
really matter as the checklists of previous Young Guns set are
littered with “Who are these guys?” players, but they do want to
produce cards that people want (it kind of helps sells) and despite
being blocked by Ben Bishop and Vasilevskiy he might sneak his way
in.
Luke Witkowski – He's a strong maybe.
Much like Gudlevskis he has appeared in other sets like MVP and
O-Pee-Chee. He would be the safe play for Upper Deck. It would by
them some time until Series 2 is released at which time maybe one of
the Syracuse players (cough, Adam Erne, cough) gets a call up. Not
exactly a household name, he does have a chance to make the team as
an extra defensemen.
I'm hoping it's Richard. I have a
feeling he's going to find himself contributing to the big club
sooner rather than later.
When you get old your memory gets a bit hazy. And when you have a couple of thousand Tampa Bay Lightning cards in your collection, you sometimes start writing a post about a card you think you have. Then when you’re done and looking for an image you find out that not only do you not have the card, it doesn’t even exist. Which leads us to today’s post.
As I was doing research (watching YouTube videos) for the Steven Stamkos endorsement post, I kept stumbling across a video showing all 60 of his goals from the 2011-12 season. Being a disciplined writer I waited until I was almost done the post to watch it. It was glorious. He scored all of the goals. One of the things that stood out (other than the fact that he only had two empty net goals during the campaign) was the number of times Matt Gilroy showed up in the highlights.
For those of you who might not remember him, Gilroy was signed in the summer of 2011 as a free agent for a reasonable 1-year, $1 million deal. General Manager Steve Yzerman was looking for a defenseman with speed who could move the puck and contribute on the power play. You know, someone to fill that Dan Boyle-sized hole that hadn’t been filled since the Cowboys era. Gilroy was cheap and had potential so it seemed like an ok idea.
Besides, who doesn’t like an underdog? According to the St. Pete Times article about the signing, Gilroy walked onto the team at Boston University and suited up on the blue line, not because that’s what he played growing up, but because that was the only spot open on the team. He seemed to take to it pretty well as he earned the Hobey Baker award for best collegiate player in 2009.
Here’s how to end a college career. Walk-on from Long Island switches to defense to make the team, becomes captain of that team, wins award for best player in college, assists on dramatic game-tying goal in the national championship (which they end up winning) and then signs a 2-year $3.5 million contract with the legendary New York Rangers. Not a bad little story.
Things didn’t quite pan out in New York and when his contract was up they didn’t re-sign him. Paired up mostly with Marc-Andre Bergeron, Gilroy played pretty well for a Lightning team that struggled to capture the magic that had propelled them to the Eastern Conference finals the year before. While the team might have had troubles, a young Steven Stamkos was an unholy terror on the ice.
Having refined his game from a kid with a big slapshot from the circle, Stamkos was scoring from every way from everywhere. Slapshots from the circle still went in, but he was also in front of the net deflecting goals or tapping in crazy passes from Marty St. Louis and Vinny Lecavalier. He was dekeing goalies and snapping wristers past them. And there, on the blue line, was Gilroy setting him up.
Matt Gilroy had 2 goals and 17 assists in his too-short Lightning career. His first point was a primary assist on a Vincent Lecavalier goal on October 17th. He would assist on a Stamkos goal that night as well. His next four points were also primary assists on Stamkos goals. In all he would assist on 6 of Stamkos’ 60 goals. His production and ice time would pick up when Victor Hedman was sidelined with a concussion. With the Big Swede on the sidelines, Gilroy would see upwards of 20 minutes a game. When Hedman came back, the former Boston Terrier would see his ice time dwindle and eventually he was traded to the Ottawa Senators for Brian Lee (who would also assist on 6 of Stamkos’ goals).
Gilroy would help the Senators make it to the playoffs but would find himself a free agent again after the season. The Rangers signed him to an AHL deal during the lockout and he did play his way onto the roster once the season resumed. However, he only appeared in 15 games and failed to register a point. His last season in the NHL came in 2013-14 with the Florida Panthers where he recorded a goal and an assist in sixteen games. He is currently playing for Spartak Moscow in the KHL where he has 15 points in 49 games.
To this day he is the only player to wear the number 97 for the Tampa Bay Lightning. The reason for choosing that number is a bit heart-breaking (seriously how has Disney not done a movie on this guy yet? Are they waiting for him to return from Russia to help the Islanders win a Stanley Cup or something?)
In my mind Gilroy was with the team much longer than 53 games. Maybe it was because the Lightning churned through so many defensemen that year. Along with Gilroy and Lee there was Brandan Mikkelson, Keith Aulie, Bruno Gervais and Evan Oberg, all youngish players who were brought in to fill gaps in an aging blue line. Other than the 21-year-old Victor Hedman the other regulars on defense were 31 or older.
In fact, I thought he was around long enough to have a card produced with him wearing a Lightning uniform. Unfortunately he wasn’t. So let that be a lesson to you kids. If you have an idea for a post that you want to shoehorn into a reoccurring gimmick, make sure it actually fits before you spend an hour writing it.
So here is a photo of his rookie card which I do not own (but it could be yours for $3.99 on eBay!)
Hi. How is your summer going? Probably a lot better after cashing that big check, am I right? Let me start by saying, thank you. On behalf of myself and all the fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning, thank you for choosing to staying with the only NHL team you’ve ever played for. Choosing to stay in Tampa instead of chasing fortune in Buffalo or glory in Toronto means a lot to the fans. Not to go all Sally Field on you, but it’s nice to know you like us.
Personally I think you made the right choice. Your legacy in Tampa is secured and you have an excellent chance of winning at least one Stanley Cup during your contact. Heck, after 8 more years in Tampa, setting franchise records and winning a Cup or two, then maybe it will be time to head home to Toronto. You’ll still have a chance to be a hero because I’m sure they’ll still be chasing their first championship since 1967.
That’s all in the future though. Let’s talk about right now. One of the big “drawbacks” to re-signing in Tampa that was bandied about over the last year was that you would be losing out on endorsement money by playing in a non-traditional hockey market. If you were to sign in Toronto everyone from Tim Horton’s to Maurice’s Maple Sugar Shack would be handing you scandalous amounts of money to hock their various wares.
Who can forget this text from beloved Toronto Sun columnist Steve Simmons:
SOURCES: Maple Leafs met with Steven Stamkos at MLSE headquarters Tuesday. Also present: Toronto Mayor John Tory and CEO of Canadian Tire.
Obviously you weren’t swayed by unlimited amounts of Canadian Tire money and signed the deal to stay with Tampa shortly after this Tweet was posted. I’m sure it was hard to turn down free tires for Bugsy’s old Mercedes, but you did it.
Even with the perceived handicap of playing in Tampa I see you still do alright with the endorsement money. Forbes had you pegged at about $1.5 million a year with your deals with Nike/Bauer, Tissot watches, EA Sports and Coca-Cola). While it doesn’t seem like much it does make you one of the top earners in the NHL. Unfortunately, being a hockey pitchman isn’t quite as lucrative as a tennis pitchman (Roger Federer $58 million) or a golf pitchman (Tiger Woods $50 million and Phil Mickelson $44 million), but it does pay for a couple rounds of golf a year.
It speaks a lot to the niche market that your sport belongs to when the top endorser, Sidney Crosby, is only pulling in about $4 million a year in endorsement revenue. Not that that is money to sneer at. Personally I’d sell my soul for an extra $25,000 a year (any advertisers out there reading, please feel free to contact me. You too could reach dozens of readers a week by advertising on The Hopeful Chase!). However, it is a small enough amount to make me wonder if it was a factor in your decision making this off-season.
You said all the right things about what factored in to you staying in Tampa. The chance to win, to finish what you started and to stay with a core of young exciting players. I’m sure the extra year and mostly state-tax free $6.5 million didn’t hurt, however. As much as we want to think money isn’t a factor, this isn’t the 1950s any more. Players aren’t working second jobs in the off-season to make ends meet. Also, unlike the majority of the working force in world, your earning years are limited. I can stand at a bell desk in a hotel for the next 20 years, you may only have another 10 years or so to make as much as you can. Leaving money on the table to re-sign in Tampa is a pretty strong sign that you do really appreciate the life and career you’ve built with the Bolts.
As a thank you for signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning, I’d like to help you catch up to the Woods, Federers and Crosbys of the world by offering you an endorsement opportunity. I, Justin G., will pay you, Steven Stamkos, $5.00 a year for the rest of your life (or my life) to endorse the Hopeful Chase. That’s not all. If you agree to the deal, you will also receive a signing bonus of a $15 gift card to Argo Tea payable every year you play your first game in Chicago while you‘re in a Lightning uniform.
All you have to do is like one Hopeful Chase related Tweet a year (we all know that you know how to like Tweets) and conduct one post-game interview wearing a Hopeful Chase t-shirt (t-shirt to be designed if/when Stamkos signs on the line that is dotted). That’s it. Such minimal work for such a lucrative deal! I won’t even make it exclusive, feel free to endorse any other poorly edited blog you want.
You don’t have to make a commercial where you have to shoot a lot of pucks at stuff (Gumball!). Or have your “dad” trade you. Now if you want to make a tear-jerker expanding on the heartbreak in Quebec City, we can talk about it.
Just a Tweet and a T-shirt and there is a free sawbuck in your pocket for the rest of your life. Talk about it with Don Meehan and the rest of the team at Newport Sports Management and get back to me when you get a chance (DM @TorchRamrod or email me). There is no need to hurry, this is an open-ended deal.
Throughout the first decade of the
Lightning's existence Alexander Selivanov was the closest thing the
Lightning had to a sniper. From his debut in 1994 to his trade to
Edmonton in 1999 the Russian-born winger scored 78 goals in 304 games. For me, however, he will always be remembered for three
things:
Having his Mercedes repossessed
during a practice.
Marrying the General Manager's
daughter
Scoring the playoff overtime goal
in the team's first playoff home game in history.
And yes, that is the order I remember
them in.
The Car:
In 1998-99 the Lightning were not a
very good team. Their record peaked at 6-6-2 on November 8th.
. On November 10th they would lose 10-2 to the New York
Rangers (I was there!) which plummeted them into a nine game losing
streak. A 2-1 win against Edmonton on December 4th would
break the streak but they would go ahead and lose 15 of their next 19
games to...umm...fall out of contention.
They won only 19 games. Their “best”
goalie was Corey Schwab and he had 8 wins and 3.52 GAA. Darcy Tucker
of all people led them in scoring with 43 points. The highest
plus/minus was +1 by a Andrei “Skippy” Skopintsev who somehow
managed that while playing in 19 games for a team that gave up a
league-leading 292 goals.
Their head coach/general manager was
literally illiterate and helping his wife deal with cancer. Their
captain, John Cullen and pro scout, Peter Mahovlich, were also
battling cancer. Forward Benoit Hogue had to leave the team for a
bit because his sister had been murdered in Montreal.
It was not a good year.
On a quiet Thursday in October,
Selivanov had his $80,000 Mercedes repossessed from the parking lot
of the Ice Palace. Despite making a reported $1.5 million that year
he had somehow missed a couple of payments on the car. He blamed it
on moving to a new address and not notifying the bank. Man, life
sucked before online payments.
The Wife:
Flashback to a few years prior and
Selivanov was having a great year. Despite being a Russian in a
small market hockey town with no other Russians on the team he was
playing well on the ice. In his first full season in the NHL,
Selivanov's team leading 31 goals propelled the Lightning into the
playoffs for the first time in their history. He looked like the
dynamic, if sometimes inconsistent, scoring forward that could be a
breakout star for the team.
Off the ice his life improved quite
dramatically as well. In October of 1996 he married a girl named
Carrie. Her last name happened to be Esposito. Which was the same
name of the Lightning's General Manager Phil. Which wasn't really a
coincidence since she was his daughter. She was also the Director of
Team Services for the Lightning. Which kind of conflicted with a “no
fraternizing with the players” rule he had set up with his
employees.
Esposito didn't punish his daughter for
marrying a Russian by trading him away (although I wouldn't have put
it past him if he had a decent deal on the table). However, a
couple of inconsistent seasons in a row (he would score a total of 31
goals in the next two seasons) and a large contract extension would
lead to acrimony from his critics and the nickname Alex Son-in-law-ov
was born. See, people could be assholes even before Twitter.
Esposito would soon be removed as
General Manager and in January of 1999 Selivanov would be shipped out
to Edmonton in a trade that netted the Lightning the legendary
Alexandre Daigle. Carrie Esposito would follow Alex around for the
next decade plus as his hockey career took him to Columbus, Germany
and Russia. Unfortunately in 2012, at the age of 43, Carrie passed
away from an abdominal aneurysm.
The Goal:
The early Tampa Bay Lightning teams
were not great, but they weren't horrible. During the first three
seasons of their existence they finished 6th in their
division twice and 7th once. As an expansion team in the
90s they were built through other teams castoffs and high draft picks
so some struggle was expected, but they were improving as a
franchise.
In the 1995-96 they finally made the
playoffs. They finished with a franchise best 38 wins (a number that
wouldn't be bested until the Stanley Cup year of 2003-04). They won
three out of their last four games in the season to snatch the 8th
see in the Eastern Conference away from the defending Stanley Cup
Champion New Jersey Devil.
Their reward for the best season in
franchise history? A match-up with the powerhouse Philadelphia
Flyers. Not many gave Tampa a chance against the Flyers when the
series started. After all, what chance should an upstart, sunbelt
hockey team have against a team with Eric Lindros, John LeClair, Ron
Hextall and Rod “The Bod” Brind'Amour? Plus the Lightning had an
injured goalie in Daren Puppa who was playing with a bad back, an
injured Brian Bradley who missed all of Game 2, oh and young
defenseman Roman Hamrlik announced that he hated playing for coach
Terry Crisp after the Lightning got shellacked 7-3 in Game 1.
Game 2 was a different story as the
Lightning took advantage of some injuries to the Flyers to win 2-1 in
overtime and send the series to Tampa tied at a game a piece.
Selivanov had tied the game in the second period and Brian Bellows
won it in overtime.
Game 3 was back in Tampa. In a
converted baseball stadium then known as the ThunderDome, 25,945 fans
watched the Lightning battle back from 3-1 and 4-3 deficits to send
the game into overtime. Then, 2 minutes into overtime Selivanov
scored the game winner.
There are several great things about
this goal.
Selivanov throwing a check at the blue
line to keep the puck in the zone
Brian Bradley's pass to Bill Houlder.
And you thought cross-ice passes were a recent Lightning phenomenon.
Houlder's great fake and then horrible
pass. Watch the slow-motion replay. He sold the slapshot and then
fired that puck right into Selivanov's skates.
Selivanov getting mugged by Dale
Hawerchuck as he skated in front of the net. Late 90s hockey at its
obstructioniest best.
The sheer noise from the crowd after
the goal. That would have been awesome to be a part of.
Sadly that would the high water point
for the series and the organization for the next few years. Puppa's
back broke down and he couldn't carry the team any more. The Flyers
won Game 4 in front of a NHL record 28,183 fan to tie the series.
They would win the next two games as well, ending the series in six
games. Would things have been different if Puppa didn't have the back
of an 85-year-old man? Possibly.
The organization would fall on hard
times after that playoff season. Owners would change, coaches would
change, Selivanov would be traded, games would be lost. Many, many
games would be lost. And for Lightning fans sitting through three
straight seasons of under 20-win seasons. There was one lonely banner
that hung in the Ice Palace. It wasn't a Stanley Cup banner, or a
conference title banner or even a division banner. It was a banner
celebrating the record crowd.
And we had the memory of Selivanov's
goal. For most organizations that would be barely a footnote in a
team's history. Heck even more recent Lightning fans probably don't
rate it in their top five memories,but for a generation of Lightning
fans that will be one of the greatest moments in Lightning history.
Selivanov would have a good season in
Edmonton before falling out of their graces. He would play one
season in Columbus before moving on to the KHL and German leagues. He
last played in the Netherlands in 2011-12 before retiring. He had
been coaching in the KHL with HC Admiral Vladivostok but does not
currently appear on their website.
The Card:
I don't have many of the 1997-98 Pacific Omega cards. I picked this one up in a Zistle trade where the other guy was super generous and sent me a box of Lightning cards in exchange for a couple of extra Topps Heritage cards I had.
I like the horizontal design, but the borders are a little too wide on the side. The next year's design was much better (see the Vinny card on my last post). I also like the Rob Zamuner cameo in the background.
The back of the card has no stats but mentions Selivanov scoring two goals in 39 seconds against the Flyers in November of 1997.
In the end it was just nice that he
chose to stay. The reasons don't really matter, well they kind of
matter, but just the fact that Steven Stamkos, the looming big prize
of the NHL free agent market, took a look at what was out there and
said, “Nope. I think I'll stick here for a little bit longer.”
I'm going to pile my money this high!
Stamkos will be seen in Tampa during
the hockey season for the next 8 years. And it only cost the Tampa
Bay Lightning $68 million (notice how easy it is to say “only cost”
when it's not your money?) He turned down the chance to make more
money and return home (Toronto), the chance to be the next great
center for a storied franchise (Detroit) and the chance to make A LOT
more money and be the final piece in propelling an up-and-coming
franchise into competition (Buffalo).
What a relief it is for fans in the
Tampa Bay Area to finally have someone choose to stay. We've become
conditioned to the fact that as a smaller market, players grew into
superstars and then leave for bigger markets. Either they sign big
free agent deals with other teams (Carl Crawford, Nikolai Khabibulin)
or they get traded before the big money is due (David Price, Brad
Richards, Dan Boyle, Scott Kazmir). We're just used to athletes
leaving town.
But for once, the superstar, despite
better offers, despite the chance to play for his hometown team,
picked to stay in Tampa Bay. When the news broke (conveniently when I
was at work) and the texts and the alerts blew up my phone, I was
legitimately happy. As in, find someone to high-five happy. And
this is where being an out-of-town fan kind of sucks. There weren't
any Lightning fans in the hotel lobby so it was kind of hard to
explain why I was grinning like a doofus for my entire shift.
Stamkos talked about loyalty to the
organization where he “grew up as a kid” and Mr. Yzerman talked
about the respect Stamkos had for the organization and the process
(we were one “hustle” comment away from a John Cena t-shirt).
There was a feel that money wasn't the number one concern during
Stamkos' short-lived journey as a possible free agent.
He even acknowledged it in the phone
conference on Thursday when he mentioned that both sides (him and the
team) have to make “sacrifices” to keep the core of a Stanley Cup
contending team together. Granted sacrificing between $8.5 million a
year or possibly $11 million isn't exactly Sophie's Choice, but not
too many of us would turn down a couple of million bucks. Hell, I'd
jump ship from my current employer for an extra $20,000 a year.
While I was emotionally prepared for
him to leave (at least I'd like to think I was) I did have a feeling
he wanted to come back. Again, I don't see someone working his ass
off to recover from an injury to play one game for a team he was
going to ditch in two months. No one would have thought less of him
if he had sat out of Game 7 against the Penguins.
Did he waste a lot of our time and
digital ink by signing what was, in essence, the same deal that was
reported back in March? Maybe, but if you look at it from his point
of view, not really. He used the system in place to get as much
information as possible. In the end, waiting until June 30th
wasn't a huge problem for the Lightning. If he had waited until
August and then came back, that could have led to some animosity from
fans and ownership as it would have handcuffed the things Mr. Yzerman
needed to do to put a competitive team on the ice.
This is what a "thrilled" and "very, very, very happy" Steve Yzerman looks like.
Luckily for the Lightning and Lightning
fans, money doesn't seem to be the driving force for Steven Stamkos.
Even going back to the deal he signed as a restricted free agent. He
could have held out for more than 5 years and $37.5 million. He
could have forced the Lightning to sign him to an 8-year extension
back then, but he didn't.
This summer he could have made more
money signing elsewhere. Heck he could have demanded that Mr. Yzerman
at least pay him a contract that averaged $9 million a year so that
it would look like he made the team move off of their initial offer.
Luckily his pride at being a leader and a player is stronger than his
pride in being a negotiator.
While we're at it, let's give a round
of applause to the NHL free agency process. When the new CBA was
released with its salary caps and contract limits, this exact
scenario was why it was put in place. In the old days, when cap hits
weren't a concern a team like the Rangers or Toronto could have
swooped in and offered him an Ovechkin-like 13-year, $150 million
deal.
The Lightning, as a smaller revenue
generating club, would never have had a chance to match that without
crippling the franchise for years. Instead, they held the advantage
by being able to add the 8th year to the contract (all
other teams could only offer a max of 7 years) and keep the total
value of the contract in the ballpark with what other teams could
offer.
So for all of the legitimate crap that
we give the NHL, as Lightning fans, lets acknowledge that the system
does work in our favor from time to time. Now, if under the same
system some team drops an offer sheet for Nikita Kucherov, all these
kind words are forgotten.
Link shot me a text and asked me if I
liked the deal. As a fan, my immediate thought was, “Yes, of
course I do! Stamkos is back. I don't have to buy a new jersey!”
However, the other part of me, the rational one, the one that kept me
from weeping in the corner when Vinny Lecavalier was bought out, like
the deal as well.
I miss Vinny and I miss this uniform.
From a financial point it was a big
deal. It will probably lead to someone I don't want to see leave the
team, leaving the team. But it was nowhere as bad as it could have
been. For the last five years his salary cap hit has been $7.5
million. For the next eight years it will be $8.5 million. He is
only 26-years-old so for half of the deal, he should still be close
to his prime. If hockey revenues keep growing, by the time he's over
30, third-line centers are going to be making $9 million a year so
it's going to be a bargain.
Since he entered the league in 2008,
the only person who has scored more goals is Alex Ovechkin. Even in
an “off” year he will score 30 goals. He makes people who play
with him better (a scary thought if Jonathan Drouin manages to stay
on his line). The Lightning keep two legitimate scoring lines with
him on the roster.
It also establishes, without a doubt,
that he is the leader of this team. That was the best thing to hear
in his phone call on Thursday. He didn't talk about money being the
reason he stayed, but about the opportunity not only to win the
Stanley Cup, but to be the leader of the team that wins the Cup.
Even though he has been the captain
since St. Louis left, the specter of him leaving hung over the team.
In my drafts I had a post started breaking down who would wear the
“C” after Stamkos signed with Toronto (spoiler – it was Victor
Hedman). Now, there is no doubt. And it sounds like he is ready for
it.
Free agents were signed! Trades were consummated! Teenagers were drafted! It was everything that Tampa Bay Lightning fans had hoped for. Yet, at the same time, there was a prevailing sense of incompleteness presiding over the weekend as well. For all of the action it was the inaction that was the biggest story to come out of the 2016 NHL Draft. After the dust settled, Steven Stamkos was still part of the team (although possibly in a contractual sense of the word only) and Andrei Vasilevskiy is still the backup goalie.
The big hype during the draft was that Ben Bishop was on the move. It made sense. There were a couple of teams that needed goalies (Calgary and Dallas), the Lightning needed some cap relief and might be interested in moving up the draft board. Besides they have a 21-year-old kid ready to assume the starter’s spot. In the end it was St. Louis who stepped up to the plate and traded away one of their goalies (Brian Elliot) for a minimal return (2nd round pick and conditional 3rd ).
Hopefully if that’s what Calgary offered for Bishop, Mr. Yzerman hung up the phone before Brian Burke finished his sentence. You would hope a two-time Vezina-nominated goalie would be worth more than a couple of picks, although the rumor that Bishop wanted a 7-year, $49 million extension probably didn’t help things out. The good news for Mr. Yzerman is that teams will always need goalies and waiting a little longer isn’t going to hurt Bishop’s value (unless he blows out a knee in the World Cup).
Bishop is under contract for one more season. Worst case scenario (barring injury) is that he has another good season and walks away from the team next July. Even in that case, the silver lining is that the Lightning wouldn’t have to protect him in the upcoming expansion draft, leaving them free to keep Vasilevskiy in the fold. I’m not sure what the best case is yet, but it probably involves another team panicking and throwing prospects at Mr. Yzerman.
Someone who is not under contract for another season (at least not yet) is Steven Stamkos. As the days tick by it looks like the most prolific non-Russian goal-scorer in the league is going to be a free agent. The draft seemed to be the last chance for the Lightning to announce they re-signed their captain. After all it’s always nice to announce a big deal when the whole league is together in once place. Also, it would mark the end of the period where they had exclusive negotiating rights with him.
So when Friday turned into Saturday and the Lightning’s exclusive negotiating window vanished into the Buffalo sky with no deal announced his free agency more or less was open to everyone. And by everyone, I mean everyone. While it was once thought that the choice would be Toronto or Tampa, it now seems that every hockey team except for the Cardiff Devils have expressed interest in signing Stamkos (I hope he has unlimited minutes on his cell phone plan…I wonder what carrier he uses? Has he ever done a cell phone commercial? I don’t think he has. It seems like one of the superstars of hockey should be advertising for a phone company…which is probably something that the Leafs pointed out to him during their sales pitch).
If I was Stamkos' agent - this is how I answer the phone.
Is it a forgone conclusion that his days in Tampa are over? I don’t think so. Stamkos strikes me as the type of guy who likes to have all of the information available before he makes a decision. So even if he is leaning toward coming back, what does it hurt to hear what other teams have to say? Besides if a GM or two is going to buy him a free steak over the next week, why not listen?
Unfortunately for Mr. Yzerman, Stamkos’ lack of a decision makes his life a little bit harder. At this moment he is Schrodinger’s GM. He is currently having to operate in a status where Stamkos is still with the Lightning and a status where Stamkos is not with the Lightning. Unfortunately the rest of the NHL does not, and will not, wait for the pale-skinned blonde from Markham to figure who is going to give him millions of dollars.
So Mr. Yzerman is stuck trying to continue fill the needs of two very different teams. A Lightning team with Stamkos needs minor tinkering. Some help on the blue line, maybe a possession forward who can win face-offs, and little salary cap space to make those moves. A team without Stamkos needs the same things and a way to fill a 35-40 goal offensive void. Granted, there is a at least $7.5 million more in cap space to deal with, but replacing that type of offense requires more than a snap of the fingers.
In the meantime Mr. Yzerman does still have other things to worry about like pending restricted free agents and a winger with a broken hip. He also has to mend the ego of a starting goaltender who was thrown out as trade bait for 48 hours. While I’m sure Bishop understands the business side, it’s still a shot to the ego to be dangled out in front of other teams.
He did clear up some paperwork on Monday by making offers to seven of those pending restricted free agents. Only David Broll was left out. While this doesn’t automatically mean the Lightning will re-sign all of them it does give them right of first refusal or draft pick compensation should some team come sniffing around with an offer sheet. It buys him some time (like, until Stamkos makes up his mind) to figure out what kind of long term contracts he can work out with Alex Killorn and Nikita Kucherov.
As for players he’s already taken care of, Luke Witkowski picked up a one year contract while JT Brown and Cedric Paquette inked two year deals. Brown was a good signing as he as emerged as an important shut-down forward for the Lightning. His speed and fore checking can be quite disruptive to other teams (now if he can just learn to put the puck in the net). Witkowski is depth on the blueline and a possible captain for Syracuse. Paquette, whose cousin Chris was drafted by the Lightning this weekend, struggled against the Penguins but also fills a needed role in the bottom six.
After wrapping up those deals the draft was probably the easiest thing Mr. Yzerman had to deal with over the last couple of months. He made it quite clear that current events don’t dictate who he picks in a draft. After all, by the time these kids are ready who knows what the team will look like. In all the Lightning drafted 10 players (1 goalie, 2 defensemen and 7 forwards).
Surprisingly Mr. Yzerman didn’t trade down from his first round pick or trade one of his extra second round picks. In a move that stunned a lot of the Lightning faithful he actually traded for another second round pick. The price for that pick was Anthony DeAngelo, the former first round pick who was slated to spend another season in Syracuse before being considered a part of the Lightning’s blueline in the future.
St. Pete Times beat writer Joe Smith intimated that DeAngelo might have requested a move to get a fresh start with a new organization. If it was then, Jonathan Drouin, this is how you request a trade without embarrassing your GM and organization. If he didn’t make the request then perhaps Mr. Yzerman and his staff didn’t see DeAngelo’s game progressing the way they would like it.
You can say a lot of things about Mr. Yzerman, but one thing he does well is cut the right young players loose. Have any of the young players that he has traded come back to haunt the Lightning? If Brett Connolly could stay healthy maybe he would be the exception.
Speaking of Brett’s, the Lightning selected Brett Howden from Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League. Howden is the definition of a safe pick. He has size (6’2”) and was projected to be a late first round, early second round pick. He plays a two-way game (how Coach Cooper-y!) with his offense coming from hard work in front of the net. He might not have the most skill or speed (something his critics are lamenting) but he isn’t going to burn you with bad plays either.
His contributions to the Lightning are years away though. The curse of a competitive team is that draft picks rarely vault straight to the big club. In all likelihood it is back to the WHL for another year and then some time helping Syracuse rebuild as a contender.
I commented to Link that I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen a fan base slightly disappointed that their number one goalie and number one scorer weren’t traded in the same weekend, but that’s the feeling I got from some of the Lightning fans on Twitter. The thought of Stamkos walking “for nothing” really seems to be stuck in their craw.
My philosophy is that what we “got” was four seasons of Steven Stamkos. We didn’t get three or three and a half seasons of him and some assets in a trade. Nor did we “get” pennies on the dollar by trading him at the draft. What we also have is a shot to re-sign him. If Mr. Yzerman had traded him away, his days in Tampa were most assuredly over. Now, for at least the next week or so the door is still open for him to come back. Will he walk through that door?
