Part Three: Time for the Lightning to give Stamkos a mega deal?

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So far during this three part series on what Steve Yzerman and the Tampa Bay Lightning need to do this offseason we have addressed moving Matt Carle, splitting ice time between goaltenders Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasileskiy now we move on to part three. We need to address the elephant in the room when it comes to what this team needs to do this off-season. Steve Yzerman and the Bolts better lock up Steven Stamkos to a mega deal and they better do it soon. Yzerman has already said that locking up Stamkos is his number one priority but he makes it sound easier then I think its going to be and this is why. One Stamkos is going to ask for a mega deal, which he should he is arguably one of the top five or six players in the world. Where I think it gets tricky is that I believe he is going to ask for Jonathan Towes type money. Somewhere in the neighborhood of eight years eighty four or so million dollars. Now here is the problem with that Jonathan Towes had two Stanley Cup rings when he signed is blockbuster contract. Stamkos has zero rings to his credit so there is where Yzerman needs to weigh banking huge money on future outcomes. The second thing is the ever looming Toronto media that keeps on pushing Stamkos to leave the Lightning for his home town Maple Leafs after next season. The last thing Yzerman wants to do is have Stamkos as a lame duck superstar because then the rumors will really flow. Ultimately I think Stamkos signs a long-term deal sometime shortly after the NHL awards ceremony. But until the ink is dry on the new deal these two problems will keep writhing in the background. 

Part two: Time for Bishop & Vasilevskiy to split ice.

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Here we go part two of our three part series on what Steve Yzerman and the Tampa Bay Lightning need to do this off-season. So here we go with number two, Ben Bishop or Andrei Vasilevskiy what to do with the goaltenders? As we all know Ben Bishop was a stud in net this year recording career highs in wins and saves. Bishop always came to the forefront when needed this season, you could even argue that he was the best goalie throughout the NHL playoffs defeating Carey Price and Henrik Lundvist in back to back series. But the problem with Bishop is that he wears down especially in the playoffs. Last year he missed the first round with a arm injury and the Bolts were swept by Montreal this year he hurt his groin during the Stanly Cup finals enter what some people say is the best goalie prospect since Martin Brodeur. Andrei Vasileskiy  here in lies what Steve Yzerman needs to think about doing…. And no its not trade Ben Bishop, he needs to layout a plan to get the future Vasileskiy more starts and thus cut down on the wear and tear on Ben Bishop so that he is as fresh as he can be for the playoffs. Yzerman tried to do this last season with the signing of Evgeni Nabokov and to say that didn’t work out would be an understatement that wont be the case with the younger Vasileskiy. This will also give the young gun some much needed NHL experience and playing time. But for me this needs to be planed out by Yzerman and Cooper to really work and they need to stick to it. Then next year we can talk about do you keep or trade Bishop who should command a kings ransom in return. Be on the lookout for part three tomorrow. Put the hammer on Stammer.

Yzermans first off season move: Carle has to go.

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This is the first part of a three part series that will run through Wednesday about the three things the Tampa Bay Lightning need to do this off-season. Number three on that list at least for me is Steve Yzerman needs to move Matt Carle. This is important because the Tampa Bay Lightning will have some tough salary cap decisions to make in the coming years with the likes of re-signing Steven Stamkos and Victor Headman. Matt Carle might be tough for Yzerman to move seeing that he makes 5.5$ million dollars each of the next two seasons. But we have seen Yzerman pull off Jedi mind tricks to move players before. Now don’t get me wrong I like Matt Carle but you cannot have a third line defenseman making that much coin. Especially with minor league jewels like Slater Koekkoek, Anthony “Tony” DeAngelo and Luke Witkowski moving up threw the system Koekkoek looks like he will be with the team next year barring another injury and DeAngelo looks like a stud offensive defenseman after winning CHL defenseman of the year and recording 89pts. Having Carle is something of a luxury and now is the time to try and move him even if you get a bag of peanuts in return. All of the pros completely out weigh the cons. The 5.5$ million that he makes to me is the biggest factor in all of this. So if Stevie Y can move him now it would be a huge plus for the growth of the Bolts going forward. Tomorrow we will be talking about goaltending and what to do with the Bishop vs Vasilevskiy situation.     

Game 4 Recap: 2015 Stanley Cup Finals.

This is a recap of game four of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Chicago Blackhawks. The topics i hit are as follows Ben Bishop, Steven Stamkos, the Lightning power play and my game five prediction.

Game three recap: Bishop goes beast mode.

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After a crazy game number two in the Stanley Cup finals the series shifted from the friendly confines of Amalie Arena to the hostile atmosphere of the Madehouse on Madison also known as the United Center. If that wasn’t intimidating enough for the Tampa Bay Lightning pile on the Balckhawks 7-1 record at home in the post season and injury concerns about Ben Bishop the Bolts starting goaltender you would think that would make any team wilt. But not these resilient bunch of young guns from Tampa, and certainly not Ben Bishop. After game two had ended many rumors arouse about Ben Bishops leaving game two everything from he pulled his groin, de-hydration to even well lets just say he had to go number two. No one knew what was wrong or even how or if he would play. To make things even more suspicious the Lightning and coach Jon Cooper stayed mum on the issue Monday even Ben Bishop going as far as saying in a press conference before the game that he felt like Marshawn Lynch the Seattle running back who refuses to talk to the media. Well I would say that you could call Ben Bishop Beast Mode Bishop or even that he went BishMode on the Hawks. After a really shaky first period on Monday Bishop settled in and gutted out an outstanding 36 saves on 38 shots leading the Tampa Bay Lightning to victory and one step closer to another Cup title. According to Kevin Allen of Yahoo Sports Jon Cooper said after the game about Bishop “The kid said, give me the net.” That basically sums up Ben Bishops will and guts on Monday night.       

Lightning face a must win in today's Stanley Cup final game two.

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The Tampa Bay Lightning could be staring a two game deficit clearly in the face after today’s game two of the Stanley Cup final. Most would agree that Lord Stanley’s Cup is the hardest to win in all of sports, that task could become a lot harder if not impossible if the Bolts don’t get a win today. Now lets recap game number two and look forward at some key things Tampa Bay needs to do against the Chicago Blackhawks to get a win. In game number one the Lightning had the lead most of the game thanks to Alex Killorns trick shot goal. They held Chicago scoreless for the rest of the game until about six minutes left in the third that is when Jonathan Towes and company took over, Chicago scored two goals on Ben Bishop and the Lightning within a two minute span, the Lightning lost a heart breaker. Which brings us to today and game number two. A couple of things the Lightning need to be able to do today to defeat Chicago. First they need to continue to contain Towes and Kane the Blackhawks super stars something they did very well in game one. Next they have to get more scoring from the third and fourth line guys like Brian Boyle, Ryan Callahan and Brenden Marrow. The Lightning cannot keep relying on Steven Stamkos and the triplet line to do everything. Last and probably the biggest thing is keep the offensive pressure up in the Chicago zone, the Bolts cannot start playing prevent hockey like they did in game one Chicago is far to skilled and that style of play will bite the Lightning again if they do it.