Speculation: 2023-2024 General Lightning Discussion - Part 4

[Stammertime91]

I found this video from two months ago.

Some of these were laughable

That really is puzzling. Well, Duclair wasn't a defensive stud and we went after him. To Duclair's credit, he looks like Bergeron compared to Sprong in these limited highlights but you either tie him to Point/Kucherov or accept his deficiencies in the bottom six. Either way, he's a hell of a step up over Jeannot, Eyssimont, and Chaffee. Like, +3M? Tough call, but if we moved Sheary and put him there, I would accept that.

There's going to be a downside to these bargain bin players. Lafferty is no offensive threat, he is what he is. Dakota Joshua is very promising but after the Jeannot trade, I am hesistant. I can see why Lalonde didn't play him and would imagine he's definitely not a Cooper guy either. Though, when you shore up the defense, taking a flier on someone like Sprong may be worth it if the price is right.

 

[Stammertime91]

So they end up with a crap watered down topn6 with maybe two 3 million guys on it, and that's all dependent on what Stamkos takes. Even moving Cirelli and all.three of the other guys, after signing Stamkos and replacing the dman traded and a #7, the team would have maybe 9 millionish for 5 forwards. There still isn't room for any meaningful middle 6 depth while still trying to address two large holes in the top 6. I don't want guys like Foegele, Sprong or Joshua being in the top 6. Sprong is the closest, but the kind of guys Tampa could afford aren't real top 6 material. They can keep Cirelli, move Paul up or give a deserving Syracuse player a shot, and with any luck, still be able tonsign or trade for a 3rd liner for depth. Next offseason they'll have a bit more room, and I'm sure they'll address a top 6 F then.

In what world is a crap watered down top with Stamkos, Hagel, Point, and Kucherov in it? It's only crap if three are on the same line, which isn't best. Moving Cirelli and even promoting Paul there is lateral. The aura around keeping Cirelli for defensive purposes has faded. That ship left a little bit ago once the hound Hagel showed up. So, the top six with one 3M signing, bringing up Paul, and promoting Goncalves loses Cirelli but strengthens the wing position in our top six. Paul for Cirelli is a wash. Yeah Cirelli is better defensively, but you don't need a Selke territory centerman to win a cup.

Sprong - Point - Kucherov
Hagel - Paul - Stamkos
Jeannot - Goncalves - Lafferty
Motte? - Glendening - Eyssimont

Sign me the f*** up, especially with McDonagh back.

 

[JTBF81]

In what world is a crap watered down top with Stamkos, Hagel, Point, and Kucherov in it? It's only crap if three are on the same line, which isn't best. Moving Cirelli and even promoting Paul there is lateral. The aura around keeping Cirelli for defensive purposes has faded. That ship left a little bit ago once the hound Hagel showed up. So, the top six with one 3M signing, bringing up Paul, and promoting Goncalves loses Cirelli but strengthens the wing position in our top six. Paul for Cirelli is a wash. Yeah Cirelli is better defensively, but you don't need a Selke territory centerman to win a cup.

Sprong - Point - Kucherov
Hagel - Paul - Stamkos
Jeannot - Goncalves - Lafferty
Motte? - Glendening - Eyssimont

Sign me the f*** up, especially with McDonagh back.

Top 6 looks meh tbh. The 2nd line won't click, as Stamkos.and Paul were absoluty a pile together last year, and now.banking on Sprong to.mesh on the top line as well, no thanks. Moving Cirelli isn't the answer. Jeannot sucks and isn't helping either. Sprong isn't coming to Tampa for 3 million either, as he's going to look to get paid after the last season or two he had.

 

[Flat Ronnie]

Top 6 looks meh tbh. The 2nd line won't click, as Stamkos.and Paul were absoluty a pile together last year, and now.banking on Sprong to.mesh on the top line as well, no thanks. Moving Cirelli isn't the answer. Jeannot sucks and isn't helping either. Sprong isn't coming to Tampa for 3 million either, as he's going to look to get paid after the last season or two he had.

Hagel and Stamkos did well together the last 3 months, no?

 

[Stammertime91]

Top 6 looks meh tbh. The 2nd line won't click, as Stamkos.and Paul were absoluty a pile together last year, and now.banking on Sprong to.mesh on the top line as well, no thanks. Moving Cirelli isn't the answer. Jeannot sucks and isn't helping either. Sprong isn't coming to Tampa for 3 million either, as he's going to look to get paid after the last season or two he had.

Cirelli and Stamkos aren't a world beater of a combo either.

So, in your eyes:

Sprong - Point - Kucherov
Hagel - Cirelli - Stamkos

is meh, but;

Hagel - Point - Kucherov
Paul - Cirelli - Stamkos

is good and clicks? Because if the remedy is to put Cirelli at wing, that's not it. Paul doesn't work at RW. You don't like Paul with Stamkos. Sprong, who is essentially lateral to Duclair, maybe worse defensively, is "no thanks." Sprong had better numbers the year prior and took 3M in Detroit.

It feels like you are hung up on Cirelli being cemented into the top six in which any forward brought in near 3M doesn't help, either. Again, go look at depth charts/line combos and look at the AAV for top six guys. You have to take a flier on someone with some sort of deficiency in there - somewhere. Your solution is run it back, essentially. Then when Paul & Stamkos are proposed, it's a pile. But Cirelli and Stamkos were awful, too? Lol. You gotta be realistic here, man.

Hagel and Stamkos did well together the last 3 months, no?

Yes, and it's the combo you rest on for your second line. Which is exactly what I'm trying to lobby for, then when I give a suggestion for a third forward on each line - none are good. Lol.

 

[JTBF81]

Hagel and Stamkos did well together the last 3 months, no?

But not Stamkos and Paul. You can roll Stamkos.with Point and Kuch, and Hagel with Cirelli and Paul. It's not difficult to fill in the 3rd line spot, and you keep the real value players instead of hoping a 3rd liner can play up and be great on the top line.

 

[JTBF81]

Cirelli and Stamkos aren't a world beater of a combo either.

So, in your eyes:

Sprong - Point - Kucherov
Hagel - Cirelli - Stamkos

is meh, but;

Hagel - Point - Kucherov
Paul - Cirelli - Stamkos

is good and clicks? Because if the remedy is to put Cirelli at wing, that's not it. Paul doesn't work at RW. You don't like Paul with Stamkos. Sprong, who is essentially lateral to Duclair, maybe worse defensively, is "no thanks." Sprong had better numbers the year prior and took 3M in Detroit.

It feels like you are hung up on Cirelli being cemented into the top six in which any forward brought in near 3M doesn't help, either. Again, go look at depth charts/line combos and look at the AAV for top six guys. You have to take a flier on someone with some sort of deficiency in there - somewhere. Your solution is run it back, essentially. Then when Paul & Stamkos are proposed, it's a pile. But Cirelli and Stamkos were awful, too? Lol. You gotta be realistic here, man.


Yes, and it's the combo you rest on for your second line. Which is exactly what I'm trying to lobby for, then when I give a suggestion for a third forward on each line - none are good. Lol.

No, the top 6 should and likely will be imo
Stamkos-Point-Kuch
Hagel-Cirelli-Paul
They can fill in a 3rd and 4th line spot as needed with,.depending on Stamkos's.contract, a.ufa like Lafferty and/or an extra Syracuse guy. That would be to start the season, and then you try some different configurations as the season progresses as needed. Sprong isn't signing for cheap either, as he's getting at least 4 million if he has an agent worth anything. It's very unlikely that JBB is messing with an offense that was top 5 orn6 and averaged between 3.4 and 3.5 gf/g by moving his 2C for magic beans and hoping a 3rd line ufa acquisition is the magic formula.

 

[ccman68]

not like our 2nd line was ever good even when we were winning. what we need is to bring back gourde. jeannot and a 2097 first round pick should get it done. seattle will need to retain so maybe we add the 2065 2nd round pick for that

 

[Outl4w]

Who gets shipped out to make room for Stamkos and Ufa top 9 forward?

 

[These Are The Days]

I humbly request the mod team the alter the title to "What offseason?" since we're rocking part 4 here

 

[RussianGuyovich]

i dont want JBB to bring back any more players (gourde, johnson, etc.) i want him to find the NEXT gourde, johnson, etc. like he used to be able to through UDFA and AHL superstars in waiting, and cheap.

 

[LightningStrikes]

I humbly request the mod team the alter the title to "What offseason?" since we're rocking part 4 here

The “official” off-season thread is still open:

Speculation: - 2024 Off-Season Thread

Priority one is to Sign Stamkos. I think it is time to move on from JBB . His Jeannot trade and offseason signings closed the window for this team. I get he earned another year with b2b cups, but his last 1.5 seasons closed the window instead of extending it. Convince Yzerman to come back. Sign...

forums.hfboards.com

 

[These Are The Days]

The “official” off-season thread is still open:

Speculation: - 2024 Off-Season Thread

Priority one is to Sign Stamkos. I think it is time to move on from JBB . His Jeannot trade and offseason signings closed the window for this team. I get he earned another year with b2b cups, but his last 1.5 seasons closed the window instead of extending it. Convince Yzerman to come back. Sign...

forums.hfboards.com

Yup. And the fact no one uses it is hilarious to me. That's exactly where I was going with this hahahaha

 

[Soul Assumption]

I like McDonagh but he's 35 now. Hanifin costs 600k more and was a long-term solution. I still don't understand why this trade didn't happen.

 

[The Gongshow]

I like McDonagh but he's 35 now. Hanifin costs 600k more and was a long-term solution. I still don't understand why this trade didn't happen.

Didn't have the assets to get it done with Vegas. We don't have many valuable picks or prospects at this point.

 

[Soul Assumption]

Didn't have the assets to get it done with Vegas. We don't have many valuable picks or prospects at this point.

It's not true. Calgary got 2026 1st and Miromanov (6-7 D). Tampa has 2026 1st add Howard or Gauthier and it will be a much better offer.

 

[Outl4w]

Didn't have the assets to get it done with Vegas. We don't have many valuable picks or prospects at this point.

We used our picks for jeannot.

 

[These Are The Days]

I like McDonagh but he's 35 now. Hanifin costs 600k more and was a long-term solution. I still don't understand why this trade didn't happen.

Calgary is a bag of dicks who would rather trade to Vegas and not us. I'm fine with this anyway. We just needed to buy time for our title window and we just got 2 more years. In the meantime, our coaching staff needs to burn their playbook and stop making 15 dudes fall back and play fire drill at center ice and in the defensive zone as if "its not time to attack right now" because Kucherov and whatever his 2 linemates are on the bench.

The issue isn't scoring goals. Those old Devils teams that literally killed hockey for 20 years were usually at the top of the league in offense. The issue is we're running that system with Conor Sheary. We SUCK OUT LOUD at it. Roll 4 lines and trust your defense

 

[ccman68]

We used our picks for jeannot.

there's new picks every year

 

[The Gongshow]

there's new picks every year

JBB traded them already

 

[Point21]

https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffa...-should-make-blockbuster-trade-with-lightning

 

[Peacefool]

https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/buffa...-should-make-blockbuster-trade-with-lightning

They just read and rewrote our boards xD

 

[Point21]

Would anyone be opposed to this deal

Tampa trades: Cirelli, Perbix, 2026 2nd

Buffalo trades Jiri Kulich, Peyton Krebs, 2024 4th (PHI)

 

[Flat Ronnie]

They just read and rewrote our boards xD

If I was a national journalist that doesn't have the knowledge of each individual team that us exactly what I would do.

 

[Felonious Python]

Jeff Marek floated the idea of Cirelli to Boston.