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Tampa Bay Lightning Trade Evgeni Nabokov To The San Jose Sharks

By Tasha St. Pierre

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Tampa Bay Lightning fans knew that a trade was imminent, but there was no word on the what, when, and where of the situation were coming from. Today, we here in the Bolts Nation finally get some answers.

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Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced via the Lightning’s official site that Lightning goaltender Evgeni Nabokov has been traded to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for future considerations.

Unfortunately, Yzerman was not incredibly specific as to what those “future considerations” were, but we are sure that as the trade deadline is quickly approaching we will soon have a better idea of what that means.

In reality, it could be anything from a player trade at a later time – which is much less likely of an option – to future considerations like a conditional draft pick or something of the sort. Whatever the end result winds up being, we can assure you that it was the best move for both sides.

The thirty nine year old Kazakh goaltender was originally drafted by the San Jose Sharks in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. Nabokov would spend ten seasons with the Sharks organization before he would become a casualty of a salary cap issue and end up with the New York Islanders in the 2011-12 season.

Nabokov is highly respected in San Jose as he played an integral role in their successes during his time there. While no one with any real knowledge of the situation has commented on the move at this point, one would assume that this trade will allow him to retire at the end of the season with the organization that gave him his first real shot and is responsible for most of his successes in the National Hockey League.

According to the San Jose Sharks’ official site, Nabokov will hold a press conference at the SAP Center in San Jose on Wednesday to discuss his future in the sport of hockey. At that point we will know for sure what the future holds for the former Lightning netminder.

As we have mentioned previously, this is the unfortunate side of hockey; the side that is very much a business. Nabokov has been nothing if not a standup guy since joining the organization before the start of the season. Unfortunately, no matter how hard he’s tried he has just not been able to convert his talent into wins.

So far this season, Nabokov has played in 11 games with the Tampa Bay Lightning resulting in a record of 3-6-2 with a Goals Allowed Average of 3.15 and a Save Percentage of .882.

It is worth noting that Nabokov is just three games shy of hitting the 700 game mark in the National Hockey League. One would assume that should he desire to reach that milestone in his career that he would be afforded that opportunity that he has such a rich history with, but we won’t know more on that until Wednesday.

We here at Bolts By The Bay would like to sincerely wish Evgeni Nabokov nothing but the best in whatever he may decide his path will be in the world of hockey. He has been a class act the entire time he has been with our organization and hope that he finds what it is that he is looking for from the remainder of his career.

What do you think of the Lightning’s trade of Nabokov with San Jose? Do you think Yzerman made the right move at the right time? What do you think Nabokov plans to do with the remainder of his career? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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