Awful trade for Tampa. Johnson is much better than Sutter, has a NTC and won't be waiving for VAN and Foote is one of their best prospects, basically untouchable.

Agreed, I don’t think Tampa has many options being so tight to the cap with so many ntc’s. the one thing they do have going is a load of offensive prospects. I think they will be co tending for quite a while even if stamps is in a diminished role.

Yeah fat chance of Tyler Johnson leaving a potential cup contender in Tampa, For a cellar dweller in Vancouver.

I would've assumed this was a joke if I hadn't read the description

Tampa is great during the regular season and can score goals by the bushel, but they need more grit to get through the playoffs. Couldn't the same thing be said about Toronto.

I think this division is going to be crazy and fun to watch for the next few years with Tampa, Toronto, Boston, Florida and possibly Buffalo but some of the Leafs fans are clearly such homers that they make statements such as with Tavares and Matthews the Lightning can't win the division and this is their last year to contend.

Well, not if you organize the lineup like that, they won't. J.T. Miller is a winger, not a center, and Point absolutely belongs in the top-six (the first line if you're in favor of separating Stamkos and Kucherov). Killorn should be no higher than the third line, and Gourde on the fourth line (below Callahan) is insane. Callahan's good in limited minutes, but belongs far away from the top line. Under no circumstance should Kucherov be below the first line on opening night.

As for this analysis, first of all, is a top-six of Matthews, Tavares, Nylander, Marner, Marleau, and Hyman that much better than Stamkos, Kucherov, Point, Palat, Johnson, and Miller? That's 155 goals vs 143 goals, and the Leafs' statistics would be skewed because Tavares and Matthews on the same team will result in fewer minutes for each of them than last season. Plus, Marleau's at an age where a decline should be expected. Meanwhile, J.T. Miller's production will likely go up a bit now that he's playing on a line with elite superstars, a role he couldn't have with the Rangers. After arriving in Tampa, he scored at a 43 goal pace, and though I don't expect that level of production consistently, I would expect a slight boost in production. Palat also spent quite a bit of time injured.

And that's before you start looking beyond top-six forwards, where Gourde scored 25 goals and 60+ points and Cirelli played at a 22 goal pace on the third line (again, that's not something I think will continue, but 15-20 goals is definitely a possibility). Kadri scored 32 goals on the second line, but that's going to drop now that he's on the third line. Kapanen is great for a third line wingers, but he's not Gourde. As for the fourth line, we know Callahan is going to be there for the Lightning (barring any major trade), but other than that, it's not certain who makes it and it's impossible to make any judgement on production until we figure it out. So, while the Lightning sound worse when you make it out like the games are going to be "Matthews-Tavares-Kadri vs Stamkos-Point-Cirelli", when you factor in the wingers, offensively, neither team has that much of an advantage. Defensively, Hedman just won the Norris, Stralman's still very capable defensively if you don't give him too many minutes, McDonagh would be a #1 defenseman on most teams, and Sergachev (though he'll be asked to prove himself with less sheltered minutes) destroyed all expectations last season and will continue to improve and make fewer mistakes. Point is a potential Selke candidate, and Palat is definitely one of the best defensive wingers there is. Together, Palat-Point-Johnson shut down the Bergeron line, something which Hyman-Matthews-Marner couldn't do throughout their Boston series. As for defensemen, Reily-Zaitsev is not a bad pairing, but it's not comparable to a Hedman pairing. Liljegren is very offensive-oriented, and what both teams need at this point is defense (hence the Lightning took Foote despite Liljegren being available in the draft). The Leafs are relying on defensive prospects breaking out, and that's not at all a safe bet. The Leafs GAA wasn't bad compared to the Lightning's, but we added McDonagh (who will have a full season to adjust to our defensive system) and changed coaching, whereas the Leafs did not make any changes.

If you look in the net, Vasilevskiy is elite and gaining consistency, and Anderson is just not at that level.

So, on paper, the Lightning are still the better team. And though the games aren't played on paper, and the regular season statistics don't always translate to playoff success, I would argue that the Lightning should definitely be the favorites against the Leafs in a playoff series. The Leafs haven't gotten out of the first round with their lineup, and Tavares has made it past the first round once, so the Lightning are more experienced. Point, Killorn, Johnson, and Callahan are really good about elevating their game in the playoffs, whereas the Leafs don't have anyone like Killorn who can step up like that and increase their depth even more.

Any playoff series between the two teams will be entertaining, and I would be surprised if it didn't go to six or seven games. The Leafs could easily win, too. But the Lightning are still the favorites, and to say that this could be Stamkos' last chance is entirely ridiculous. Especially since, with the Leafs cap situation, there's no room for much-needed improvements. That Marleau contract is huge, and going to be much harder to dump than Callahan, Killorn, Coburn, or Girardi would be. We can move those players at the deadline if we need some sort of asset (specifically Coburn or maybe Callahan) if we need cap room to do something, and once Point is extended, the core is completely locked up under the cap (and we can most likely re-sign Gourde as long as we don't take on someone like Tanev).

This trade isn't worth it from the Lightning's perspective; Johnson is our most expendable top-six forward by far, but convincing him to waive an NTC for a lottery team won't be easy regardless of how close to Spokane it is, and Foote is the future, whereas Edler's older and expensive to re-sign. If Johnson will waive his NTC for a lottery team, and we're looking for more grittiness, Pacioretty is the best bet, and Montreal needs a center. We also have Masin, Stephens, and Foote in Syracuse, each of whom would add size and physicality to the Lightning. It's not as if the Lightning don't have any grit; it was obvious throughout the Boston and New Jersey series that they can indeed be physical when necessary. The Capitals were bigger and they couldn't handle it for seven games, and I think an addition that helps with that would be useful, but not if it means that kind of trade.

Tampa are the new Caps, only I bet they will not see a Cup during the Stamkos era.

Think I would bet on Tampa, we know what they can do and the leafs r still full of question marks especially of defense. Toronto still has a lot of big contracts to sign at foward that could out then in a very tight situation weakening their defense. Just my option.

Yzerman is a legend and the Bolts have a fair drafting and development program

No matter how successfully they navigated dealing St. Louis or Drouin, they have come close to losing players for lack of ice-time and cap space, and now have just about no more wiggle room left.

It's not that they're poised to drop off, but their competition is going to get much tougher and they won't have the freedom to match it. The only memory that lasts are Stanley Cup wins, so use the space they have today and make a push or do a few moves that will set them back until entry-level-contract prospects lift them up.

I'm not saying this proposal is what will happen, but there's not a lot of options especially if it's an out of conference deal. Maybe Vegas or Arizona. Injuries during the season could help bank extra cap space

Well said. The only thing I would challenge is Gourde. I believe he stays for the year then walks for better money, more than the lightning can afford. Next year we have several prospects ready to take his place, all bigger and provide more grit but never more heart than Gourde.

lol gtfo with this.

the trade. lines and description are all autistic