Tampa Bay = A Force to Be Reckoned With

[Morphine Boy]

Ok, after watching Tampa Bay last season during the playoffs, I've developed a really strong liking for the Lightning.

I can't WAIT to see St. Louis and Perrin together this coming season, it's gonna be GREAT!

Now then, you're probably saying "who is Perrin?"

Well NHL.com's got the story for you.

http://www.nhl.com/intheslot/read/features/perrin073003.html

Let's Go Bolts! :D

*But of course, the Canes are gonna be on top this year. ;)

[nccanes]

It might be interesting, but I think Perrin is a long shot to make the team.

And would you want to send a line out with two little squirts the size of St. Louis in the NHL? ;) Dunno, maybe I would! :p

[folgersnyourcup]

The Lightning are alright....they really clicked once they moved lines around in the first round (coupled with a hilarious 5 on 3 (??????) in OT of game three and another OT powerplay to get the series win) but against New Jersey being a one line team appeared to hurt them quite a bit. They got some good experience getting out of the first round though and will be hungry for more this year. I think there will definitely be a close battle to determine the SE Division champ this season.

[nccanes]

They still need to sign some defense.

Offensively they've lost Prospal, but have Corey Stillman from the Blues (but can't remember if they've signed him yet).

[MoBigRed]

I've been a bit of a Bolt fan from day one, back when they couldn't muster much more in the way of offense than Steve Maltais and Stan Drulia :eek2:

Prospal or no Prospal, i think they'll do well. Yeah, they could use a little more depth, but no telling what the new season will bring. And win or no win, i just have fun watching them play.

But blast it, the Canes have to step it up a notch or two this year and compete with them!

[moonstomper]

I like the Bolts..Id be more excited about Eero Somevouri then Perrin though. Mangament has allready stated that a spot on one of the top two lines is his to lose....

[Shell]

Lightning look to stay hot by standing pat Aug. 28, 2003
By Wes Goldstein
SportsLine.com Staff Writer

One of these days, the Tampa Bay Lightning might find it impossible to remain under the radar screen.

They're doing a pretty good job of it so far, which is something considering they're coming off the best season in franchise history, and their first division title.

Then again, it's easy to go unnoticed when you live in the shadow of a Super Bowl champion, play in a division often considered to be the NHL's weak sister and have some bad timing.

The Lightning's timing was awful last year when it won the Southeast.

Sparked by a breakthrough season from Martin St. Louis and big years from Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards, Tampa Bay came out of nowhere to become one of the NHL's biggest surprises. But the Lightning didn't share much of the spotlight with Anaheim and Minnesota, other upstarts who went further in the playoffs.

Chances are, though, that the Lightning organization won't be overlooked much longer. Even if keeps the kind of relatively low profile it did over the offseason.

Tampa Bay was almost inactive when it came to shuttling players this summer, a bit unusual for an organization that has had a revolving-door policy for players in its first decade of existence. But the team did manage to re-sign all the players it wanted back.

That means coach John Tortorella will again have the talent that, in spite of an off year for goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, produced 93 points and did not look out of place against New Jersey in a playoff series.

More important, the Lighting can build on that by going into training camp with no off-ice distractions and a number of jobs on the roster up for grabs. That's critical for the emerging young team, says general manager Jay Feaster.

"Training camp is so important for players individually and for a team," Feaster said. "It really sets the tone for the season. So if you have everybody there ready from the start, and some real competition for jobs, it's exactly where you want to be."

For the Lightning, it's a pretty good place.

They were stung when leading scorer Vaclav Prospal left last month as a free agent, going to Anaheim, but they acquired 20-goal man Cory Stillman to help fill the void and deepened the blue line by getting Pascal Trepanier and bringing back Nolan Pratt and Janne Laukkanen. So they are in pretty good shape in the Southeast, where their toughest challenger, Washington, looks poised for a big letdown this season.

And they're in pretty good shape for the next few years, regardless of what happens after the current labor agreement expires in September 2004. Feaster admits he has no better idea of how to prepare than anyone else, but it's not diverting him from his basic long-term plans.

"We've taken the approach that we want to identify our core players, and regardless of what happens, to have them here," Feaster said. "You build around those players and change the other pieces."

At the heart of the plan are Lecavalier and Richards, and since Lecavalier was already signed through next year, the big challenge for Tampa Bay this summer was getting Richards signed and to training camp on time.

The mission was accomplished this week when Richards agreed to a three-year, $9.25 million contract and became the last of the key Lightning players Feaster wanted to bring back.

Some, like veterans Dave Andreychuk and Fredrik Modin got one-year deals; others like Dan Boyle, Tim Taylor and Brad Lukowich got two years; and there was another three-year deal given to goalie John Grahame.

Feaster, whose payroll will remain in the modest mid-$30 million range this year, has not ruled out looking to the free-agent market or waiver wire before the season starts and figures the team might soon start reaping the benefits of the high draft picks they accumulated after several bad seasons. In the meantime, he has kept a good team that should get better together for this year and has created a budget that should be flexible enough to work in whatever new economic environment is created in the NHL.

"There's a problem with crystal ball gazing because you can't determine what the future will look like," Feaster said. "They only thing you can do is look at your own situation and try to run the business as best you can."

Which is something people will notice.

[nccanes]

Interesting read about the recent Richards contract. There's been talk about this having an effect on the Gaborik situation because Richards deal is quite a contract for a player just off his 1st NHL contract.

Richards' deal could be a bonus for Havlat
By BRUCE GARRIOCH -- Ottawa Sun

By the time the Senators and Martin Havlat reach a deal, Ottawa GM John Muckler will probably feel like he's been negotiating a contract with Tampa's Brad Richards.

It was Richards, after all, who recently broke the stalemate for players coming off entry-level contracts that is going to set the benchmark in negotiations for Havlat, Edmonton's Mike Comrie and, notably, Minnesota's Marian Gaborik.

Though GMs detest comparisons, that's the reality of doing business in today's NHL, which means the Senators are going to hear plenty more about Richards' contract from Havlat's agent Allan Walsh.

While the trouble for teams making deals for players going into their second contracts started last year when Flyers GM Bob Clarke gave winger Simon Gagne a two-year, $4.7-million (all terms US) deal, Richards' contract is in another stratosphere.

In exchange for giving up his rights to arbitration until 2005, Richards accepted a three-year, $9.25-million deal from the Lightning that could be worth much more if he meets the bonus clauses set out in the contract.

No wonder Richards, 23, popped a bottle of champagne at his P.E.I. home the night the deal was sealed. It's not like he couldn't afford it, according to a copy of his contract obtained by the Sun from a league source.

After being paid $975,000 last season, Richards will earn $2.4 million this year, $2.5 million in 2004-05 and $4.35 million in the option year of the contract. But it's the bonuses that are the kicker.

If he reaches 70 points, Richards can earn an extra $50,000 on the contract. That amount increases and could top out at $700,000 if he has a 100-point season and the Bolts make the playoffs. Richards, by the way, had a career-high 74 points last season.

It doesn't stop there. Anything Richards makes in bonuses -- and the amounts depend on a post-season appearance or an even plus/minus rating in the regular season -- will be added to the next two years of the deal.

Therefore, it's possible that if Richards collected all $700,000 in bonuses this year, his base salary would be $3.2 million in 2004-05 and a whopping $5.05 million in 2005-06.

There's also a $150,000 bonus for qualifying for the Eastern Conference final in 2004, along with the usual money for being among the top three in voting ($100,000-$300,000) for major awards or being an all-star.

"I think it's an excellent contract for Brad," Richards' agent Pat Morris recently told the St. Petersburg Times. "I think it rewards Brad Richards for what his performance has been the last three years."

Of course, the Bolts didn't mind paying Richards because they've been pleased with his first three seasons. Since the 1993-94 season, only Paul Kariya's 246 points and Milan Hejduk's 199 beat Richards' 198 in the first three years of their careers.

"I think this is a fair deal for both sides," Bolts GM Jay Feaster told the Times. "We feel Brad Richards is a cornerstone of our franchise. My goal is to see him play his entire career in a Lightning uniform.

"We're dealing with a special hockey player. When you look at his .81 points per game, and the numbers he put up his first three years, the company he's in is pretty incredible."

Now, the Senators must decide in negotiations where Havlat fits in all of this, while Edmonton's Kevin Lowe and Minny's Doug Risebrough face similar situations in talks with Comrie and Gaborik, respectively.

Teams usually act in their own best interest. That's what the Lightning did by signing Richards, but that won't make work easy for GMs in Ottawa, Edmonton or Minnesota.