Tampa Bay Lightning: Bolts Morning News And Updates

The NHL offseason may be going by slowly, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything happening. Let’s take a look at some news surrounding the Tampa Bay Lightning and the rest of the league.

For many NHL fans, the offseason is a long, slow, and painful time of year, especially once the draft and awards show have occurred. And even though the excitement of free agency has come and gone for some, many teams are still working out deals with their own restricted free agents, while trying to lure in potential unrestricted free agents to their organization.

This year’s offseason for the Tampa Bay Lightning and its fans has been nothing short of nerve-racking, frustrating, and exciting and if not for the work of General Manager Steve Yzerman and his staff, I might have added another emotion not currently listed. But, that’s not the case, as most of Bolts Nation is satisfied with the work of the Lightning GM.

Even though Yzerman managed to sign both captain Steven Stamkos and top defenseman Victor Hedman to eight-year deals, which was surprising to some, there are still a few questions that need to be answered in the coming weeks. Last season’s leading scoring on the Lightning and perhaps breakout player of the year, winger Nikita Kucherov, is a restricted free agent and has yet to be signed to an extension.

Tampa Bay Lightning fans across the board are eagerly waiting for the announcement that the team has signed him to a new contract. That has yet to happen and you can imagine how hard we are sweating this one out. In addition to Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Nikita Nesterov are all waiting to hear what their futures will be like in Tampa Bay.

With the various contracts needing to be addressed and all the news surrounding the big club in Tampa Bay, exciting things have been happening at the minor league level for the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, as several new players will join the Crunch for the 2016-17 season. Syracuse will be looking to get back into the Calder Cup Playoffs after a one-year absence. [Bolts By The Bay]

In keeping with the Crunch, the team will no longer travel to the far-out island capital of Newfoundland in Canada, as the AHL’s board of governors unanimously voted to move the St. John’s Ice Caps, AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, to the Montreal suburb of Laval, Quebec for the coming season. Former Tampa Bay Lightning star and captain Marty St. Louis is originally from the Laval area. [Syracuse.com]

In case you missed it, the Tampa Bay Lightning signed 25-year-old forward, Mike Halmo, to a one-year, two-way contract on Saturday. Yzerman continues to add depth to the Syracuse Crunch this offseason and Halmo will provide some scoring depth and leadership to a team that may have lacked a bit of both last season. It’ll be interesting to see how the Crunch rebound this season. [Tampa Bay Times]

The Tampa Bay Lightning look set for the future, especially since Steve Yzerman locked up two of the team’s best players in Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman, but there are still question marks as to who will be the long-term starting goaltender going forward. Will it be Ben Bishop, arguably one of the team MVPs over the last few seasons, or the rising star in Andrei Vasilevskiy? Bolts By The Bay staff writer, Austin Howard, takes a look at what’s in store for Bishop and where he might end up down the road. [Bolts By The Bay]

Prospects: Lightning F Bokondji Imama Shines At Development Camp

After a year or more of contract talks and a devastating injury to end the regular season, Tampa Bay Lightning Captain Steven Stamkos is relieved to have re-signed with the team that drafted him number one overall eight years ago. Now, with all that behind him and an exciting future ahead with the Lightning, Stamkos returned to Tampa for a few days for a routine three-month checkup and discussed his legacy with the organization and the city and playing in the upcoming World Cup of Hockey with the team’s official beat writer, Bryan Burns. [Tampa Bay Lightning]

Finally, Bolt Prospects take a look at look the different moves the Tampa Bay Lightning management has made thus far during the 2016 offseason and projects the starting rosters for the Lightning and Syracuse Crunch this coming season as well as how the defense is the weakest point in Syracuse, but can be fixed with a few adjustments. [BoltProspects]

News From Around The National Hockey League

With free agency still in action, the NHL has officially announced their dates for the restricted free agents that have elected to go to arbitration this offseason. There are 24 restricted free agents and one team that will resort to arbitration to settle their differences. FanSided NHL writer, Dave Stevenson, takes a look at how this process works and who will be involved, including Tampa Bay Lightning forwards Alex Killorn and Vladislav Namestnikov. [FanSided]

The offseason allows players to rest, relax, and recuperate, as well as get ready for the upcoming season through workouts and rigorous training programs. Some players choose to use the free time to their advantage while others may slack off and get into a bit of trouble. Last summer, Buffalo Sabres forward Ryan O’Rielly was charged for impaired driving and failing to remain at the scene, but Canadian prosecutors recently dropped the charges because of a lack of sufficient evidence. [Too Many Men On The Site]

must read: Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman’s Off-Ice Mastery

Several teams still have some maneuvering to do under the salary cap, including the Buffalo Sabres, and General Managers sometimes have to part ways with certain players in order to alleviate some of the pressure forced by the cap. Sabre Noise staff writer, Brendan Keany, takes a look at what Sabres fans could expect going forward in Buffalo and how the team is progressing towards becoming a playoff contender again. [Sabre Noise]

The 2015-16 season was one to remember, especially for the Pittsburgh Penguins, last season’s Stanley Cup Champions, and there were many memorable moments across the board. The NHL Network, with their researchers and producers, choose the top 10 games of the season past and listed them on the NHL’s official website. The Feb. 18 game at Amalie Arena between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Winnipeg Jets landed at the number nine spot; the Lightning won that game 6-5 in a shootout. [NHL]

Beginning in the 2017-18, the city of Las Vegas will be home to the NHL’s newest expansion team and there’s still much to be done before the expansion draft next year. Owner Bill Foley has yet to reveal the name of the team or form their hockey operations and management staff. However, there has been much speculation surrounding this area of importance and Ken Boehlke from the Sin Bin Vegas blog discusses who is actually qualified to hire the new general manager for the Las Vegas team. [TheSinBin]

Next: Tampa Bay Lightning Needs To Retain Ben Bishop

Though there may not be as much news circulating around the Tampa Bay Lightning and the rest of the NHL, business is still going on between players and their agents and there are other items of importance that need to be addressed as well before the season begins. With much of the big news out of the way and the major offseason events in the past, it’s now a waiting game until hockey is back. Hang in there, guys.