1.  Lock up Steven Stamkos to a long term deal

2.  Resign Martin St Louis to a 3-4 year deal

3.  Move one money contract from the roster, preferably Andrej Meszaros

Stevie Y accomplished both 2 and 3 on the first day of FA.    For starters, he locked up Marty to a 4 year 22.5 million dollar deal.

“Today is a great day for the Lightning organization,” Yzerman said. “Marty means so much to this franchise, both on and off the ice. His hard work and dedication are unsurpassed and we are thrilled that he will finish his career here in Tampa Bay.”

“Since coming to Tampa in 2000, the goals for my playing career have evolved,” said St. Louis. “I have now enjoyed many team and personal accolades, the highlight being our 2004 Stanley Cup win…Now the goal is to lead the Lightning back towards the top of the NHL while finishing my career here. My family and I would like to thank Steve and Mr. Vinik for giving us that opportunity. I will not let them or our fans in Tampa Bay down. We’ll do everything we can as a team to achieve at the highest levels again.”

Next, Yzerman moved Meszaros to the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2011 2nd round draft pick.  He capped off the moving of Meszaros by locking up ex-Lightning Dman Pavel Kubina to a 2 year 7.7 million dollar deal.  By moving Meszaros and replacing him with Pavel Kubina he spent just over 100k against the cap.  Kubina is a much more physical player who has the ability to play on the power play and be quite effective there.  Andrej never really found his role in Tampa and his point production was something that I was always disappointed in as I thought he had the ability to be a 15 goal scorer from the point.  Kubina had 38 points (6 goals) compared to Meszaros 17 points (6 goals).  Kubina is a much better passer, and came at only a marginal cost.  100k more money, 21 more points and a 2nd round pick is a no brainer in my mind.

Yzerman “traded down financially” again in free agency by letting Antero Nittymaki walk to the San Jose Sharks (he signed for 2 mil a year) and locked up G Dan Ellis for 2 years at 1.5 million a year.  They are almost identical players in my mind (top tier backups, middle of the road starting keeps) and saved 500k in the process.  Ellis and Niitty had identical .909 save percentages last year while Ellis had a 2.69 GAA compared to Niitty’s 2.87.  I personally think Ellis has a bit more upside, even though the two keepers were born literally one day apart, so the age isn’t the determining factor in the upside department.   Ellis’ 2007 season at 2.34 GAA and a .924 SV% is excellent, while Niity has never really shown the potential to put up those kind of numbers.

To make  improvements in personnel, while saving 400k and netting a 2nd round pick in the process, and locking up one of the teams stalwart players, I’d say Stevie Y had a great first couple days of FA.

Steve Yzerman surprised just about everyone (including all the Bolts beat writers) and took winger Brett Connolly.  We actually needed a top line young winger more than a Dman, but I just didn’t think the Bolts would take the chance on Connolly with his injury history.

Connolly is only the 2nd 16 year old to post a 30 goal season in the WHL since Patrick Marleau did it in 1996.  The kid can play, and has a chance to be on the top line after training camp gets out.

Jeff Marek of the CBC had these tweets on Friday night regarding Connolly…

Connolly + Stamkos on the same team? Yikes.

8:07 PM Jun 25th via web

If healthy Connolly could be the biggest steal of the draft.

8:06 PM Jun 25th via web

Tampa selects Brett Connolly 6th overall. Tampa may have hit it out of the park with this pick.

8:02 PM Jun 25th via web

When someone of Marek’s clout says things like that, you have to be excited as a fan of the Bolts.

From HockeysFuture.com

History

2006-07: Chosen by the Prince George Cougars in the first round (10the overall) of the 2007 WHL Bantam Draft.

2007-08: Played in 4 games for the Cougars, picking up no points in thos games.

2008-09: In his WHL rookie season, Connolly scored 30 goals and added 30 assists for 60 points in 65 games for the Cougars.  He was named the 2008-09 WHL Rookie of the Year.  Scored 3 goals and added 3 assists in 6 games for Team Canada at the Under-18 WJC.

2009-10: Suffered a hip injury at the 2009 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament prior to the WHL season which caused him to miss a good portion of the season.  Connolly played in 16 games for the Cougars, scoring 10 goals and chipping 9 assists for 19 points.  He played in 4 playoff games for the Cougars, picking up 2 assists in those games.  he was named to the 2010 CHL Top Prospects Game but had to withdraw due to his injury.

Click here to view this Brett Connolly interview from the 2010 NHL Draft Combine

Talent Analysis

A pure offensive talent who can make plays at a high rate of speed.  Can score goals as well as set them up.  He’ll have to show that he can handle the tougher going in the pro game, but a top=flight talent nonetheless.