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Post by Deleted on Aug 18, 2015 18:30:01 GMT -5
The Lightning have continued to try and make their roster younger while acquiring pieces for the future in hopes of competing in the near future at the possible expense of the past season and next. It has once again been a busy off-season after last years dismantling of the team. The team did not re-sign UFA’s Daniel Sedin, Matt Cullen, Scott Clemmenson or Brendan Morrow. Moved in trades were defensemen Marc Staal and David Savard bringing younger players in Jared Cowan and Charlie Coyle along with a 2nd round pick and prospect Adam Erne. Also added were veterans Patrick Sharp and Ryan Miller, but how long any of them will be with the team will be seen (Miller moved for prospect Anton Karlsson today). In FA the team added goalie Mike Smith (who has since been moved) and Connor Hellebuyck to help shore up the goaltending which has gone from an area of strength two years ago to a real weakness.
The Draft
The Lightning started the draft with 10 picks (7 of them in the top 49). They made a pre-draft deal moving the 14th and 26th pick to Calgary for the 7th overall pick. It was a high price to pay but with 5 1st round picks the team had the depth of picks to try and get a higher level player. The 1st pick for the team was offensive dynamo Mitch Marner. He was joined by defenseman Ivan Provorov. With its later picks in the 1st round the Lightning took Jakub Zboril and Ilya Samsonov. The Lightning will make 2 picks in the 2nd and 3rd round and finish the draft with a pick in the 4th round. They will join a long (and in my opinion very good) group of prospects including 11 on Pronman’s top 100 list (he is on my mind after looking it up for Chris) and the number 5 ranked goalie on his list.
The line-up is not full of world beaters at the moment but hopefully has some good u25 guys that will form the nucleus of a winner with the prospects coming in the next couple of years. I think the team is missing a full top line and two top 4 defensemen from being a top contender, but hopefully they will be filling those holes soon with guys like Sam Bennett, Mitch Marner, Ivan Provorov, Emile Poirier and Zboril.
Sharp-Couturier-Coyle Ennis-Glendenning-Connolly Byron-Wennberg-Gerbe Clifford-Miller-King Vey
Brodie-Spurgeon Tanev-Bellemore Sbisa-Cowen Moore
Hellebuyck Svedberg
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Post by AvsGM on Aug 18, 2015 18:51:26 GMT -5
Marner, Provorov, Zboril and Samsonov is a hell of a 1st round haul, especially grabbing Zboril @ 21!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 22, 2015 16:58:46 GMT -5
The Draft
With their first pick (4th overall) in the 2015 JGHL draft the Lightning took Mitch Marner from the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. Marner is an offensively gifted, but smaller, winger who put up gaudy numbers for the Knights and looks to have the skating, shiftiness, puck skills and IQ to bring those offensive skills to the next level. Based on his size and lack of urgency from the Maple Leafs I would expect Marner to be at least two years away from contributing at the JGHL level but when he does he will expected to develop into a top line scoring winger.
With their second pick (7th) the Lightning were very pleased to select Ivan Provorov from the Brandon WheatKings. Provorov looks to have top pairing potential and is able to contribute offensively while being responsible in his own end. While not being overly big for a defenseman (6-1, 205 lbs) he does ok in the physical game and won’t be pushed around. While he does have potential to crack the Flyers this year, I expect he too will be two years out before he will be joining TJ Brodie as the anchors of the JGHL Lightning defense for the next 5 years. The 3rd pick (20th) was another European defenseman playing in the CHL, this time from the QMJHL as Jakub Zboril fell to the Lightning. He is a smooth skating, puck mover who should be an asset to the Lightning PP going forward. But that doesn’t mean he is going to be a soft player. He doesn’t mind the rough stuff and can be a bit nasty if needed.
Trying to compete (and failing) with the Oilers for all the 2015 first round picks the Lightning picked for a 4th and final time in the first round (26th) as they took a chance on goaltender Ilya Samsonov from the MHL in Russia. Samsonov is a big (although they all seem big nowadays) goalie with good mobility. A 1st round goalie is always a risk, especially a Russian, but GM Mooney figured with the 3 other picks in the first it was a good time to gamble on a goalie that at this stage in his career has the talent to progress into a JGHL starter in the future. Patience will be the key as he is likely at least 4 years away from the JGHL but with the crumbling Rubble and Putins craziness (don’t tell him I said that) who knows, Samsonov may be over to NA faster than expected.
The draft wasn’t over there for the Lightning as they had 5 more picks to make in rounds 2, 3 and 4. They started with American Dennis Yan who is playing for Shawinigan in the QMJHL. He is the tantalyzing, yet frustrating, player that at times can excel and at other times can disappear. GM Mooney feels the talent is there for a potential top 6 forward and is hoping that he can add consistency to his game as he matures. Vince Dunn, undersized, offensive catalyst was the next pick for the Lightning and the GM was excited to see how his skating can lead to good things at the next level. His defensive game could use some work but the NHL has seen an increase in success with defenseman who can move the puck whether by passing or their skating ability. In the third round the Lightning added two forwards, Ryan Gropp and Gabriel Gagne. Gropp is a former high bantam draft pick who did a good job of finding himself in scoring areas and finishing plays when given the chance. Gagne is a big winger who may not use his size to its full effect yet but has a lot of potential if he can put his physical talents together with his hockey ability. Both wingers scored 30+ goals last year and have the potential to turn into a top 6 sniper that is lacking on the current Lightning roster. The Lightning finished off the draft by selecting Kyle Capobianco from the Sudbury Wolves. Capobianco is a good skater with good offensive talents. He lead a poor Wolves team offensively and the hope is he can take those skills to the next level with the JGHL Lightning. However, he is a 4th round pick for a reason and will need to improve on his defensive play and, at times, his decision making.
This was a draft that GM Mooney targeted as being a key piece of the rebuild in TB. With potential elite players in Marner and Provorov and very good secondary guys in Zboril, Samonsov and some very intriguing projects (Dunn, Gropp, Gagne, Kyle Capobianco) I think we the draft was a very good success. There is a solid mix of forwards and defense, maybe a little heavy of wingers but the center depth is decent with young guys in the organization already. It’s getting tougher to try and get all the “diamonds in the rough” that you want as GM’s seems more savvy than ever in the league but I feel that we did get enough guys with intriguing upside to call this draft a pretty big success. Of course, many teams have been labelled draft day winners only to turn into on ice losers so we will have to wait to see what transpires as these players continue to develop.
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Post by AvsGM on Aug 22, 2015 19:49:40 GMT -5
If I had to pick one, I'd say Provorov will have the best career.
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Post by gmcapitals on Aug 22, 2015 20:10:21 GMT -5
I really like Provorov too
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Post by LeafsGM on Aug 23, 2015 13:00:24 GMT -5
Great piece. PS. Putin is my uncle, I'm telling.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2015 16:13:26 GMT -5
Just to prove the doubters who expected an 0-82 season from this years JGHL Lightning wrong, the TB Lightning started out the JGHL season with an exciting 5-4 shoot-out loss to the Buffalo Sabres. The Lightning started out hot with the top line getting on the score sheet early but it was the 2nd period where things really got going. The Lightning and Sabres combined for 5 goals, trading the lead twice and keeping the TB home fans on their toes. The Lightning left the period with a 5-4 lead and hopes of a stellar home opener.
Unfortunately, after a dumb penalty from Kyle Clifford, the Sabres were able to tie the game midway through the 3rd period. The teams were unable to match their 2nd period offensive outputs so the game went to OT and then onto the shootout where the Lightning showed their expected ineptitude putting two goals wide of the net and a third saved by Henrik Lundqvist.
Brett Connolly managed to walk away with the 1st star of the game (not a homer pick but of course very deserving) and Luca Sbisa chipped in with a surprising 3rd star performance. It will likely be a season of losses for the team but if every game can be as exciting as this the season should be somewhat entering for the fans (and GM) of the team.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2015 16:18:54 GMT -5
Ten Game Report
Well it has actually been 11 games but I was away for Canadian Thanksgiving so was unable to get this out until today. The season has gone as expected for the TB Lightning, although with 0 wins in the first 11 games some may say a little worse than expected. While the record looks bad that does hide the fact that the team hasn't been completely terrible. In those 11 games 6 have been 1 goal loses and another 2 were 2 goal losses. Not great results and in reality moral victories mean jack squat but at least it hasn't been blowout after blowout.
There have been some positives in TB. As usual there are some positive offensive outputs. Sean Couturier, Patrick Sharp and Jared Spurgeon lead the way for the team with all 3 off to good starts. The Connolly-Coyle-King line has also provided some nice secondary scoring for a young group likely better suited for 4th line duty rather than the 2nd line role they are asked to play in TB.
That said there have been some disappointing results as well. Primarily Niklas Svedberg who has been an absolute disaster as a back-up goalie. Sure it was known that after dealing away Miller and Smith goaltending would be an issue and with a complete lack of care for the defensive game from the management team goals against were to be expected but Svedberg has sucked, sucked and really sucked. Also Clifford I may not expect a lot of offense from you but 4 PIMs??? Come on fight someone, hit someone even if its late! useless if all you are going to do is nothing. I mean Cowen is really sucking as well but at least I see some fire out of him.
Overall it is pretty much as expected. This was always going to be a crap year for the Lightning waiting on guys like Provorov, Bennett, Wenberg, Miller, Larkin, Marner etc. to get experience in the NHL but that said I think more can be done to at least make teams realize they played a game when facing the JGHL Lightning. Who knows if changes are coming but I am not saying no to a Nathan Gerbe-Carey Price swap if that is out there.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 24, 2016 10:07:03 GMT -5
The (Just Passed) Halfway Report
Well the halfway point of the season has come and its time to reflect on the first half of the season for the Lightning. Obviously the growing pains have been rough and the wins few and far between. That was expected. What was not expected is that the pathetic play would not be enough to ensure a quality pick in the upcoming JGHL draft, so with that said hard to not see the first half of the season as anything other than an unmitigated disaster for the Lightning. Thank god there is a bigger lottery this year as finishing 3rd in a two player draft is about the worst spot you can be in at this point. Still plenty of season left for the Lightning to stink it up but the GM is certainly not happy with the (lack of) performance from this team. Way too good for his liking.
As for individual players the MVP of the team has obviously been deserved All-Star TJ Brodie. Brodie made the team on merit (IMO), not based on the one guy from each team requirement. He plays the most minutes for us, leads the team in assists and is the catalyst for everything the team does. Don't think this has gone unnoticed and he will be getting a stern talking to about the quality of his play. Right behind him on that MVP list would be Sean Couturier. Asked to play 1st line center because of the complete lack of talent up front (hurry up Bennett and Larkin please) he has lead the team in scoring all season long. Ennis gets some points and Sharp has been a very good veteran addition as well. A little shout out to Connor Hellebuyck who has done the best he can with some very low ratings given to him by Jake!!! Next year he should be able to be a very solid starter for us.
That brings us to the main positive for the TB Lightning, NHL performance of young guys. The future looks good for next year with Larkin, Bennett, Hellebuyck and Murray all having break out seasons in the NHL. With guys like Miller, Wennberg and even super sucky baby Sven Baertschi establishing themselves as regular NHLers the Lightning should be able to start moving out of the basement of the JGHL and into the slightly higher level that I am not sure what it is called because I know nothing about house building.
While the roster is very weak during this rebuild we still are committed to putting out the strongest line-ups we possibly can. Have no concerns about your opponent playing a Brett Bellmare 1st line center team or seeing Patrick Sharp and Brodie eating popcorn in the PB while Linden Vey plays 40 mins a game. That said don't expect them to do you any favors either, this is a terrible collection of talent after all. Considering many, if not most of these guys wouldn't even be playing in the JGHL this year without me I think the least they can do is reward me with the chance to select Auston Matthews, or like my favorite blogger (is that what you are called Chris?) did and shock the world with a Finnish selection.
(The comments in the above post are meant in fun and light heartedness hopefully none of the players (who I know read the site) were offended.)
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Post by MontyBurns on Jan 24, 2016 11:58:41 GMT -5
When larkin and Bennet bloom your top 3 cs are going to be studly.
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