The Tampa Bay Lightning send J.T. Miller to the the Edmonton Oilers during the 2019 NHL Draft in exchange for Jesse Puljujärvi, a 2019 second round pick
(38th overall), and a 2019 fourth round pick
(100th overall)
The Oilers and new GM Ken Holland I’m sure do not want to waste superstar years of Connor McDavid with minimal playoff appearances, with Puljujärvi demanding a trade it helps widen the trade market on people who can help right now. The Oilers want to receive someone in this trade who can have an immediate impact. Miller is a swiss army knife player as he can do everything on the ice. He can be inserted anywhere in the lineup and knows his role. When he was acquired by the Lightning he was placed on the Kucherov, Stamkos line and he fit right in. I imagine he could do the same playing with McDavid. The Lightning also not only clear cap space to re-sign RFA Brayden Point, but by trading Miller they clear up cap space for the next 4 years. This will be important as the Lightning must re-sign superstar Andrei Vasilevskiy, center Anthony Cirelli, and defensemen Erik Cernak and Mikhail Sergachev. The Lightning also stock pile a couple picks to continue building the prospect pool to keep the Crunch competitive and when the core is aging hopefully the draft picks will be able to replace and keep the Lightning competitive. The Lightning’s first two draft rounds could be used to draft prospects such as Matthew Robertson, Samuel Poulin, Connor McMichael, Jamieson Rees, Nolan Foote, or Lassi Thomson.
The Tampa Bay Lightning re-sign RFA Brayden Point to a 5 year, 41.375 million dollar deal, an AAV of 8.275. The Lightning sign Point to a larger bridge deal to stay within the cap constraints. If the Lightning wanted to re-sign Point long term it would have most likely cost them over 10 million because of his two way ability, his position, and offensive explosion this year.
The Tampa Bay Lightning also re-sign RFA Adam Erne to a 2 year, 2.15 million dollar deal, an AAV of 1.075, and Cedric Paquette to a 2 year, 2.8 million dollar deal, an AAV of 1.4 million. These players are both scrappy, tough, energy guys that every team needs in order to make a deep playoff run. Neither had the offensive production to get more than they got, but that is also why they were signed to two year deals. They can improve and have a larger pay day if they do.
The Tampa Bay Lightning sign newly acquired RFA Jesse Puljujärvi to a 1 year, 1.25 million dollar contract. Puljujärvi has had flashes, but has not been consistent. This is a show me type of contract to where if he performs than he will be re-signed the following year, but this year he will have to battle for a forward spot with rookie Alexander Volkov who has come close to making the team his first two seasons and veteran Cory Conacher who always is brought up and performs well.
Lineup:
The forward lines of the Tampa Bay Lightning are designed to have depth throughout the lineup. Each line will have the ability to score, some better than others, and will be able to be in every situation. The first line has arguably the two best players on the roster on it in Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point. With the firepower on that first line you need a guy like Alex Killorn who can posses the puck and win battles along the boards. The second line is comprised of the Captain Steven Stamkos and two guys who have lots of chemistry in Tyler Johnson and Ondřej Palát. This line will be able to score and will have to show up in big time situations along with the first line. The third line will be the most consistent on a night to night basis. They will provide energy by being very fast, physical, and giving 100% every shift. That is what Adam Erne, Anthony Cirelli, and Yanni Gourde do every single game. The fourth line is where forward battles will be. Mathieu Joseph and Paquette will most likely have their spot after camp, but that last spot is the one up for grabs. Volkov, Puljujärvi, Conacher, and even Danick Martel will battle for the last spot and the person who impressed the most out of camp will get it.
The defense has a very similar look to it as they played very well last season. Victor Hedman and Mikhail Sergachev played very well together when both were healthy. McDonagh and Cernak will take the assignment to shut down the teams best forward line as the both are very defensively minded. The third line does have a change however. Braydon Coburn will most likely be the third defenseman, but we do not know about the last defensive spot. It is expected to be Jan Rutta’s as he played well in final stretch of the regular season, but Cal Foote could battle for the last spot as he has shown lots of potential in the two years he has been in Syracuse. It may be his time to take the next step and continue to build the foundation of the Lightning’s defensive core.
The goalies have stayed the same. Andrei Vasilevskiy is obviously the number one as he is the Vezina trophy winner and has proved that even though he is young that he is one of the best goalies, if not the best in the entire NHL. Louis Domingue remains the backup as he was spectacular while Vasilevskiy was recovering from a broken foot. He stole a couple games for the Lightning. You cannot ask much more from a backup goalie then what Domingue did this year.
I like the trade.
Erne wont't get 2+M, Paquette will get around 1.6M IMO
If we would get PoolParty I doubt they'd sign him to a one year deal but most likely to a 2 years deal, only because we already have a ton of RFAs to re-sign in 2020.
Same goes for the other rookies, all these 1 year contracts don't make a lot of sense when most of these would be two ways contracts.
For the lineup, Gourde should be with Point and Kuch, as he's been the only guy to actually support them when on their line and not simply coast. Killorn has not to be on the top six, ever.
At the same time, by placing Johnson and Palat with Stammer we don't solve the problem we have: having a good winger playing with Stamkos. Both Johnson and Palat have been pretty bad this last couple seasons and they showed repeatedy to be useless to the Captain when in line together (mostly Johnson, Palat when on his game is useful for Stamkos). We all know that Stamkos needs a great wing on his line in order to play his best (MSL, Kuch are the exemples). So, unless we get a decent winger via trade to put on Stamkos line. What I would do is I'd put Volkov alongside Stamkos on the LW, and put Palat on the right. Test if there's chemistry + the rookie (who's a pretty good sniper) could learn a lot.
Third line with Killorn - Cirelli - Johnson is a pretty good third line (even though, again, I'd gladly trade one of Killer/Johnson away in order to get someone more compatible with Cirelli on the third.)
Also, Verhaeghe will have to go through waivers to play in the AHL next season (and, seen his outburst this past season I doubt he'd clear). So we either give him a 4th line spot or we sign him and then trade him away.
I mostly agree with the Dcore, but I'd still give one more year in the AHL to Foote.
Thank you for the feedback. I signed Erne to a 1.075 deal not over 2 million. I gave lots of one year deals because I’m considering that most of them will accept the qualifying offer and that would be there deal. Puljujärvi I gave a one year deal because if he signs for 1.2 on a one way for two years and he does not produce the way you want him to then you are stuck with that cap and for next offseason you need every little bit of money you can get. The lines I did just for what I saw this year and I watched every single game. Obviously I am not the coach. I am glad you liked the trade though I want to be a GM when I grow up and this is really fun when I take the time and people like it. Also many experts are expecting Foote to make the jump this year as well. Verhaeghe will only have to clear waivers if he ever comes up to the NHL. If we start him out in the AHL and never bring him up then it is a different story. That is also another reason I signed him to a one year deal because there is no way he would want a multi year deal with his production for the crunch. I do agree with your lineup strategy as well. Thank you for the feedback. Again this is what I want to do when I grow up so thanks.
I like the trade.
Erne wont't get 2+M, Paquette will get around 1.6M IMO
If we would get PoolParty I doubt they'd sign him to a one year deal but most likely to a 2 years deal, only because we already have a ton of RFAs to re-sign in 2020.
Same goes for the other rookies, all these 1 year contracts don't make a lot of sense when most of these would be two ways contracts.
For the lineup, Gourde should be with Point and Kuch, as he's been the only guy to actually support them when on their line and not simply coast. Killorn has not to be on the top six, ever.
At the same time, by placing Johnson and Palat with Stammer we don't solve the problem we have: having a good winger playing with Stamkos. Both Johnson and Palat have been pretty bad this last couple seasons and they showed repeatedy to be useless to the Captain when in line together (mostly Johnson, Palat when on his game is useful for Stamkos). We all know that Stamkos needs a great wing on his line in order to play his best (MSL, Kuch are the exemples). So, unless we get a decent winger via trade to put on Stamkos line. What I would do is I'd put Volkov alongside Stamkos on the LW, and put Palat on the right. Test if there's chemistry + the rookie (who's a pretty good sniper) could learn a lot.
Third line with Killorn - Cirelli - Johnson is a pretty good third line (even though, again, I'd gladly trade one of Killer/Johnson away in order to get someone more compatible with Cirelli on the third.)
Also, Verhaeghe will have to go through waivers to play in the AHL next season (and, seen his outburst this past season I doubt he'd clear). So we either give him a 4th line spot or we sign him and then trade him away.
I mostly agree with the Dcore, but I'd still give one more year in the AHL to Foote.
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