The San Jose Sharks have already secured their biggest need of the summer—a first pairing defensemen.  Mark the date: June 26—the day the Sharks acquired defenseman, Brent Burns.

This pickup wasn’t without significant cost; in return the Sharks gave the Wild  a budding, but inconsistent, Devin Setoguchi, last year’s first-round draft choice Charlie Coyle, and their 2011 first-round pick.  At first glance, this trade appears to be one-sided with the Sharks depleting their youth pipeline and the immediate effect of losing 20-30 goals in Setoguchi.  However, it’s not difficult to imagine that the goals will be made up by whoever adopts Setoguchi’s spot alongside one of the most-skilled set-up men in the league, Joe Thornton.  Even with this move, the top-six forwards for the Sharks are still as good as any in the league and the Sharks are in a position to win now.

Along with the departure of Devin Setoguchi, it was announced that Scott Nichol and Jamal Mayers would not return.  This leaves voids in the 3^rd and 4^th lines and vital penalty kill minutes that need to be crunched.  The Sharks have learned over the years that it takes defensive depth and rolling all four lines to be successful in the playoffs.  To be able to do just this GM Doug Wilson will need to address these vacancies.

The Sharks will look for a solid 2^nd or 3^rd line player that will be able to eat up a lot of penalty kill minutes.  Players with such pedigree are Joel Ward and Eric Belanger. Additionally, the Sharks should look to add more depth in the defensive corps should Ian White not be re-signed—this may come in the form of defensive minded players such as Paul Mara, Scott Hannan, or Jan Hejda with cap hits under $3m.

SAN JOSE SHARKS 2011-2012 ROSTER  (using CAPGEEK.COM CAP CALCULATOR)

FORWARDS

Dany Heatley ($7.500m) / Joe Thornton ($7.000m) / Patrick Marleau ($6.900m)

2^nd or 3^rd line LW ($0.000m) /Logan Couture ($1.241m/ Ryane Clowe ($3.625m) /

Jamie McGinn ($0.675m)/ Joe Pavelski ($4.000m) / Torrey Mitchell ($1.366m)

3^rd or 4^th Line LW ($0.000m) / Andrew Desjardins ($0.540m) / 3^rd or 4^th Line RW ($0.000m)

DEFENSEMEN

Dan Boyle ($6.666m) / Brent Burns ($3.550m)

Marc-Edouard Vlasic ($3.100m) / Douglas Murray ($2.500m)

Jason Demers ($1.250m) / Justin Braun ($0.875m)

Mike Moore ($0.512m)  / Top six D ($0.000m)

GOALTENDERS

Antti Niemi ($3.800m) / Antero Niittymaki ($2.000m)

CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS

SALARY CAP: $64,300,000

CAP PAYROLL: $57,107,501

CAP SPACE: $7,192,499

Should the Sharks spend to the ceiling with a little more than $7 million in cap space these needs should be easily filled.

The 2010-2011 regular season was one of up-and-downs for the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Early in the season it looked as if the Lightning were going to be a force to be reckoned with in the Southeast Division and rest of the conference. However, instead of sprinting to the finish line, the Lightning sputtered like a car running out of gas in the last quarter of the season.

The story of this upcoming Tampa Bay Lightning—Pittsburgh Penguins series has to be the absence of Penguins captain Sidney Crosby.  With Crosby 100% healthy and playing like the mad-man that he was before he went down with a concussion, I would have handed the Penguins this series on a platter.  Add to that the absence of Evgeni Malkin, this will be a series that is going down to the wire.

The Lightning will look to go all-out on offense as the defensive corps will not have to sweat over the fear of keeping tabs on Malkin or Crosby.  They will rely on their players that have been there before such as Vincent Lecavalier (25g) and Martin St. Louis (99pts), and this year’s runner-up in the Rocket Richard race, Steven Stamkos (91pts).  If the Lightning expect to break through a more defensive-minded Penguins squad, these are the players that will have to lead the way.

The thing that the Penguins have going for them is their playoff savvy and experience gained from being only two years removed from winning the Cup.  The Lightning?  Their first appearance since 2007. The Penguins’ core group is still intact and they know how to win in both the regular season and in the playoffs.

Besides Crosby, this squad still boasts three 20+ goal scorers in Chris Kunitz, Tyler Kennedy, and James Neal.  Even with Crosby and Malkin out, you still have to worry about those players along with Alex Kovalev.

Defense is night and day between the two teams.  With names like Kris Letang, Paul Martin, Brooks Orpik, and Zbynek Michalek anchoring the blueline for the Penguins you would be hard pressed to find someone that would prefer names like Nate Thompson, Eric Brewer, Marc-Andre Bergeron, and Brett Clark playing on their side.

The edge to goaltending goes to the Penguins because of Marc-Andre Fleury’s play throughout the season and his experience in a Cup win.  However, you can’t discount Dwayne Roloson after coming in a righting the goaltending issues in Tampa Bay.  Don’t forget that Roloson has some unfinished business after losing in the finals in 2006 to the Carolina Hurricanes.

While I give the edge in goaltending and defense to the Penguins, I think the Lightning’s guns will be able to push this to seven games.  However, I think in a game seven affair, the Penguin’s intangibles are going to be too much to overcome.

Penguins in seven.

Another game, another inconsistent effort resulting in a loss to Southeast Division rivals Carolina Hurricanes during a back-to-back home-and-home series.

The Eric (Staal) and Erik (Cole) pairing combined for three goals for the Hurricane offense which helped propel them over the struggling Tampa Bay Lightning and keep their postseason aspirations alive. This dual ended up putting the Hurricanes up 4-1 with 7:40 left to go in the third period. Being down 4-1 late in the third period you could tell that there wasn’t any momentum on the Lightning’s side.

Similar to many games the past few weeks, the Tampa Bay Lightning would come out strong in the first period and end up lapsing for 20 minutes at a time causing them to lose the game.  Case in point, a three shot effort in the second period.

Simon Gagne opened up scoring at 6:50 into the first period on the powerplay.  Gagne made a hard drive to the net from the goal line to stuff it five-hole past Cam Ward.

Vincent Lecavalier would provide some spark in the end scoring at 13:17 into the third period by deflecting a point shot into the net less than a minute after Staal seemingly drove the nail in the coffin with his goal, the Hurricane’s fourth.

Simon Gagne would get his second of the night on the powerplay on a scramble in front of the net less than a minute after Lecavalier’s notch to bring the game to 4-3.

Unfortunately, despite the late third period push Ward would stand tall and finish the night with 18 saves.     Dwayne Roloson finished the night with 35 saves which goes to show you how desperate this Hurricanes team was compared to the gliding Lightning squad.

Jeff Skinner had the opening goal for the Hurricanes in the first period.

Look to measure the Lightning’s drive and interest again as the face the Hurricanes again in less than 24 hours.  Should they not show any passion, every Lightning fan should be nervous about their chances in the playoffs and even their chances at finishing in the top 8–nothing is a given right now.

After tonight’s loss, the Lightning and their fans must be looking back at the Curtis McElhinney trade and wonder what would have happened had the Ottawa Senators not snatched him up.  Would the Lightning be sound in goal after this season should Dwayne Roloson’s age become an issue? Would the Lightning not have lost tonight 3-2OT off a mishandled Jason Spezza goal that handcuffed Roloson?

The Lighting continued a trend of losing the lead in the third period.  After outshooting the Senators 13-3 in the first period, the tables turned in the third and the Lightning were outshot 18-10 resulting in two goals for the Senators.

Nick Foligno scored the tying goal with 3:55 left in the game off a tip from a hard shot through the crease.

Ryan Shannon scored a shorthanded goal 12:27 into the third for the Senators while Marek Svatos was in the penalty box

For the Lightning, Vincent Lecavalier and Dana Tyrell got the goals.

The Lightning continue to lose ground in the race for the division title as the Washington Capitals.  At this point in the season, the focus cannot be the title, but to figure out how to play a full 60 minute game.  Give credit to the Lightning for the effort in the overtime period, but it would not have been necessary if they finished the game as strong as they started.

Even though Roloson put in a good game and blocked 31 shots, Lightning fans must wonder if the defense isn’t limiting his nights to less than 30 shots a game, will his age (41) end up being a factor through a rough playoff season?

McElhinney finished the game with 35 saves and left Lightning fans wondering what if?

The Tampa Bay Lightning lost another game that they should have won, falling 4-3 to the Florida Panthers.  Even though they played their second game in just as many nights there was no reason come out flat since they didn’t put much effort into the match the night before.

Panther’s Jason Garrison’s goal sent the Lightning packing with 16 seconds remaining in overtime.  Just like that the Lightning have lost the past 6 of 7 games.

David Booth, Niclas Bergfors, and Ryan Carter were the other scorers for Florida. Carter and Bergfors made the game 3-1 with less than 15 minutes left in the third period.

Give the Lightning credit for putting on the press and tying the game up in the third period after being down 3-1, but for most of the game they coasted and only put on a sustained effort for 20 minutes of a game that’s played for 60.

The goals for the Lightning came from Simon Gagne, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos.

Lecavalier made the game 3-2 on a 5-on-3 powerplay with 7:25 left in the game and Gagne put back a nifty rebound of Clemmenson’s back to tie the game with 2:05 left in the third.

Mike Smith ended the game with 23 saves and fielded the blame for the team, “For me, I should have made a save here or there and it’s a win under our belt.”

Smith might have seen it that way, but it was concerted lack of effort that did the Lightning in.

With the way that the Lightning are playing as a team as of right now, they are not a Stanley Cup contender.  Losing two games in a row is bad, but these were two games against teams on the outside of the playoff picture with no hope of getting into the top eight.  Also, it was Panther’s backup Scott Clemmenson finishing the night with 36 saves, not Tomas Vokoun.

Secondary and tertiary scoring is needed to win games and that isn’t happening for the Bolts.  Dominic Moore, Sean Bergenheim, Simon Gagne, and Teddy Purcell each only have one goal in the six games played in March.  With only less than two months until the playoffs, the Bolts need these guys to get rolling again.

The Lightning showed that they can play with the best of them earlier in the season.  GM Steve Yzerman fielded a team that has the scoring depth, leadership, and talent to go far.   The problem is they’re coming apart at the wrong time.  Just as the Washington Capitals are hitting their stride and finding a way to win close games, the Lightning suddenly forgot how.

In a post-game interview after the win against the Chicago Blackhawks, Steven Stamkos had these sentiments “”We’re really persevering right now. We’re learning about what it takes to win in those tight games, and for the most part we’ve been on the winning side of those.”  But, what a difference one game can make.  The Lightning came out flat and stayed that way the rest of the game falling 2-1 to the Ottawa Senators.

Also, talk about the cliché that you want to beat your former team—Curtis McElhinney took it to a new level.  He ended the night with 34 saves against the team that acquired him in a trade from Anaheim and immediately placed him on waivers.

While the shot totals were in favor of the Lightning, 35-21, they were unable to secure the game in crucial moments.  They had a number of opportunities they just could not put away in the last period of the game.

Jason Spezza scored on the powerplay in the first period courtesy of Nate Thompson’s tripping pentalty on Derek Smith.

A couple lines had spurts of good play, but McElhinney kept the Senators in the game long enough for Senator Bobby Butler to notch his seventh of the season past Dwayne Roloson who finished the night with 20 saves.

The only goal came on a two-man advantage when Martin St. Louis slid in a rebound at 17:07 in the third period.  Assists went to Teddy Purcell and Steven Stamkos.

After seeing the Lightning play their game through adversity and finally getting a win against the Stanley Cup Champion Blackhawks, it was disappointing to see them come out flat against a lesser opponent tonight.

With the playoffs around the corner, the adversity and perseverance that the Lightning showed up to tonight will bode will in the playoffs, however if they start taking nights off here and there, it could be a really nerve-wracking final stretch for Lightning fans.

The Tampa Bay Lightning continued their winning ways even though the game revealed the several faces of the club—one that can dominate an opponent and the other that falls asleep at the wheel hoping that road isn’t on a cliffside.

Even though the Lightning came out on top 2-1 over the Rangers, Coach Guy Boucher ended up being disappointed with his team.  That assessment is warranted.  They made things look pretty at times—Martin St. Louis’s one timer off a Steve Downie pass in the first period—and at times they played an ugly game where they let the Rangers dictate the tempo and set-up shop in Dwayne Roloson’s crease.

One of these ugly moments led to the only Rangers goal. It came when the Lightning turned over the puck high in the zone during a powerplay.  The Rangers’ Brandon Prust picked up a pass in the neutral zone and because of a lazy and ill-timed diving poke check by Marc-Andre Bergeron gave Prust an open look at Roloson.  Though the goal was questionable as Prust appeared to have driven both Roloson and the puck into the net with his body, his break away shouldn’t have happened in the first place.

The only players on the Lightning that looked like they realized there was a game going were Vincent Lecavalier who continued his hot streak by adding another goal today and Roloson making 22 saves.

The Lightning need to refocus and be ready to play the New Jersey Devils again after coming out in their last meeting last Friday.

The Tampa Bay Lightning were banking on carrying over the intensity and offensive outburst they had against the Phoenix Coyotes to tonight’s game against a desperate and hot Devils team that is trying to do the unthinkable—crawl back into the playoff picture after being the laughingstock of the Eastern Conference for most of the season.

With Jacques Lemaire behind the Devils bench, the trap game circa 1990s was on full display.  This defensive scheme worked during the first as they slowed down the game and kept the Lightning to 8 shots in the period.    However the forwards and the defense for the Lightning worked in tandem to cycle the puck high-low and put pucks at Devil’s goalie, Johan Hedberg’s feet for rebounds.

Less than three minutes into the second period-period it was Martin St. Louis who broke the stalemate for his 23^rd goal of the season. Less than a minute later Simon Gagne got the eventual game winner. Both Tampa Bay goals were nearly identical in that they were off wrist shots from the top of the faceoff circles following a draw. Both were also marked top corner on Hedberg who finished the night with 28 saves.

Dwayne Roloson had a solid night in net finishing with 19 saves, none better than a pad save on a Ilya Kovalchuk breakaway to keep the Devils from knotting the game up 1-1.   Roloson also stopped an odd-man rush led by Kovalchuk and Nick Palmieri in the first period.

New Jersey’s only goal came from rookie Mark Fayne in the third period.

The Lightning played a strong game against a tough team looking to find any way they can to get back into the playoff picture.  The Devils came in with a playoff mentality and the Lightning matched them.

Tampa Bay finishes the homestand with a 7-3-2 record.  They now have built a five-point cushion with one game in hand on the Washington Capitals for possession of second place.

The upcoming  short road trip will be a good measuring stick for the team as they face teams that are trying to stay in the playoffs, looking to get in, or are looking to take second place—New York Rangers, New Jersey Devils, and Boston Bruins, respectively.  Should they come out with a couple wins, it’s going to boost their confidence the rest of the way.

The month of February hasn’t shown much love to the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Lightning headed into this game looking to right their ship after losing three straight games and having only won once without the help of extra periods in this shortened month.  It would be remiss if I forget to mention that this comes during their longest home stand of the season. Playing a red-hot Phoenix Coyotes team tonight shouldn’t have helped their cause…

But if you have a fast start against a hot team, that might be all you need.  A quick start will build confidence for your team and deflate the other team.  That’s exactly what the Bolts did–build confidence for themselves and used that to decimate their opponent.  For teams looking for a blueprint on stopping a team on an eight game winning streak dead in its tracks look no further than the Lightning.

It all started with a harmless shot toward the net.  Teddy Purcell let a wrister lose from the right circles and had the puck deflect off a Coyotes defender and through the wickets of Coyotes goalie Jason LaBarbera.

The Lightning never looked back. Within 1:02 of the Purcell goal, Martin St. Louis snapped his scoreless streak that goes back to January 23rd with a great effort following his rebound off LaBarbera’s shoulder and batting it in off the shaft of his stick.

The Coyotes looked discombobulated and frustrated after the early goals and could not set-up anything resembling sustained pressure during the first period.  Dumps into the zone were adeptly picked up by the Lightning defense; passes were stopped by sticks and turned into quick clears out of the zones or quick outlet passes to a rushing forward; and shots were mostly kept to the perimeter.

St. Louis would score a powerplay goal on a Shane Doan penalty and Steven Stamkos broke his five-game scoreless streak by notching a powerplay goal.  But it wasn’t over, to cap off a first period that the Pacific Division leading Phoenix Coyotes will want to forget was a beautiful powerplay goal off a one-timer from Vincent Lecavalier to put the Bolts up 5-0 after one. The last time the Lightning scored 5 goals in the first period was in 1995 against the Hartford Whalers.

The second period started like the first with Purcell getting another goal early and eventually getting his first career hat trick at 8:17 into the 2nd. Linemate Lecavalier would end the night with a five-point effort (1g, 4a).

Adam Hall made it 8-1 at 4:52 in the third period.

The Coyotes ended up pushing back in the third period, but it was too little too late. The Coyotes got goals from Martin Hanzal, Kyle Turris, and David Schlemko.
All the big players that the Bolts needed to get on the board did so in a big way.  St. Louis, Stamkos, and Lecavalier combined for 10 points.
The well-rested Devils come into town on Friday riding an 11-game winning streak. All the Bolts have to do is open up the top-secret blue print they used to beat the Coyotes and put that into use again.

**As I was working on this post, the Tampa Bay Lightning pulled the trigger on Eric Brewer from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for prospect D Brock Beukeboom and a third-round pick.  The following are my predictions leading up to the deadline along with updated analysis.

Written on 2/15/11

We haven’t seen GM Steve Yzerman work a trade deadline yet so it will be fascinating to see if he’ll stand pat or if he’s a wheeler and dealer.  We already know that his skills on the ice are almost matched by his adeptness at managing  his team on a business and personnel level.

Early on, the price standard has already been set with Mike Fisher going for a 1^st rounder to the Nashville Predators and Kelly for a 2^nd rounder. Both should have probably gone for a 2^nd and 3^rd, respectively.  Will the negotiating chips be too high this year?  This might be the case due to the lack of trading partners in the West when it looks like everyone but the Edmonton Oilers are in on the playoff chase.

With the Bolts loss of D Mike Lundin, D Matt Smaby, LW Ryan Malone, and C Nate Thompson out with injuries that put them in a position where they may only be ready come playoff time, Tampa Bay will look to shore up their defense and add a role player for the playoff push.

During Tampa Bay’s magical year to the cup, they added one key piece in Darryl Sydor that catapulted them to the cup.  The Bolts will be looking for that key acquisition again.  With the East getting stronger–Flyers adding Kris Versteeg and the Bruins adding Chris Kelly–Yzerman may be adding  if only to keep up with some of the competition in the East.

Defense

While Marc Andre-Bergeron has filled in admirably on the powerplay, he never really replaced anyone as the Lightning’s powerplay quarterback.  The names Hedman, Kubina, and Ohlund don’t necessarily elicit fear out of the special teams of other teams.  The team has been lacking a PP QB since the old ownership shipped away Dan Boyle to the San Jose Sharks in a scene straight out of the soap opera, Days of Our Lives.  Come trade deadline, Yzerman will be looking for a dynamic blueliner who can spread the ice and make room for his skilled players up front.

Unfortunately, the market for a true powerplay quarterback is always thin.  If he is unable to find a deal and player that matches his needs, he may simply add a solid defensemen that can put up decent numbers, but also anchor the blueline.  These players are the Adrian Aucoins, Ed Jovonovskis, and Ian Whites of the hockey world.

Additionally, there is word coming out of Carolina that Joni Pitkanen, Ian White, and Sergei Samsonov could be on the market.  Each of those three players might be a good fit to plug up some holes and bolster the roster for the run. Unfortunately there’s no way that the Hurricanes make the Bolts trading partners since they’ll likely be seeing these players the rest of the year playing against them or worse, in a playoff series.

Look for the Lightning to make an acquisition from the west and package a high draft pick and prospect in exchange for a defenseman.

Role Players

Each and every year one of the most talked about assets that buyers want are role players.  With the loss of Malone and Thompson, there is no way that the Bolts don’t add at least a key role player by the deadline.  Look for Yzerman to send nothing higher than a 3^rd round pick the other way.

Names that would look great on the back of a Lightning uniform:

Cory Stillman

Danius Zubrus

Mike Grier

Update 2/20/2011

**Brewing a Winner and Looking Ahead

After delaying my post for a while, the most active pre-trade deadline in recent history happened and the Lightning didn’t sit pat. The Lightning picked up a leader and a solid defensemen that wants to be in Tampa Bay to solidify the blue line.  That pick up was out of the blue (no pun intended) as Eric Brewer was having a career offensive year as the captain of the St. Louis Blues.

He ended up leaving for a cheap going rate too.The Blues could have easily demanded Beukeboom and a 1^st or 2^nd.   This trade is highway robbery when you consider that the  San Jose Sharks picked up Ian White from the Hurricanes for a 2^nd rounder.  Even though White is a proven blueliner with his prime ahead of him, Brewer is a player that the Bolts can rely upon to provide that leadership and stability for this year’s cup run.

A terrific move by Yzerman—while he’s not a powerplay quarterback, he’ll log great minutes and be a terrific addition to the locker room.  We can expect solid numbers from Brewer now that he will have the likes of Stamkos, Lecavalier, and St. Louis pounding away at rebounds from point shots.

I expect that the Lightning aren’t done.  They will look to add a solid role player by trading away one of their excess defensemen or a mid-round draft pick.