Tampa Bay Lightning Trade Sam Gagner, B.J. Crombeen to the Arizona Coyotes
Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman has been one heck of a busy man tonight. Minutes after acquiring center Sam Gagner from the Edmonton Oilers in a trade the saw right wing Teddy Purcell head north of the border, Yzerman has sent both Gagner and right wing B.J. Crombeen to the Arizona Coyotes.
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In return, the Tampa Bay Lightning have received a sixth round draft pick in the 2015 NHL Draft.
Unfortunately, while he was a pretty standup guy when it came to the fans in the Bolts Nation, he never really hit his stride on the ice.
Last season, Crombeen played in 55 games with the Lightning. In that time, he was only able to net 3 goals and 7 assists for a total of 10 points.
In the 2012-13 season, his numbers were very much the same. In the 44 games he played with the Bolts, he netted 1 goal and 7 assists for a total of 8 points.
One of the redeeming factors he had is that he was one of the few players on the Lightning bench that were willing to drop the gloves and defend one of his teammates when someone stepped out of line. Unfortunately, he was no Keith Aulie. In fact, more times than not, Crombeen was on the losing end of the fight.
I loved his fire, but the follow through was just not there, and at the end of the day, hockey is a business and this trade was definitely best for business.
Yzerman has cleared up quite a bit of cap space tonight. Everyone here in the Bolts Nation is left to wonder just what the Lightning GM has up his sleeve for July 1st when the NHL Free Agency period opens.
From the looks of things, it seems to be something pretty big; however, we won’t know for sure until the pen hits the paper. Thankfully, we don’t have very much longer to wait.
What do you think of the moves that Yzerman has been making tonight? Do you think they are really what is best for business? What do you think Yzerman is planning for the Free Agency period? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
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