Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman had a few more plans up his sleeve before the 3:00 p.m. NHL Trade Deadline.
The Tampa Bay Lightning has taken a much different direction than the one they chose last season. Last season, the Lightning were relatively quiet heading into the NHL Trade Deadline; this season, not so much.
The Lightning has already watched as two of the team’s much-loved players were left to find new homes for the remainder of the season. Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop was traded to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Peter Budaj and Erik Cernak. In addition to Bishop, Lightning forward Brian Boyle was sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for AHL forward Byron Froese.
There were many rumblings around the NHL the Lightning weren’t finished making moves, despite the NHL Trade Deadline looming right around the corner. It turns out, these were more than just rumblings. Tampa Bay Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman had a few more tricks up his sleeve.
Tampa Bay Lightning
In typical Yzerman fashion, one of his final moves of the 2017 NHL Trade Deadline took some serious Yzerman magic. Yzerman announced in a press release on the Lightning’s official site the team has traded forward Valtteri Filppula, along with a Fourth Round Pick and a Seventh Round Pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenseman Mark Streit.
Unfortunately for Streit, his tenure here in the Bolts Nation was rather short-lived. The Lightning General Manager quickly turned around and traded Mark Streit to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a Fourth Round Pick in the 2018 NHL Draft.
So…here’s how things eventually shook out. The Lightning gave up Valtteri Filppula, a Fourth and Seventh Round Pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, and a defenseman in exchange for a Fourth Round Pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. Initially, this move may not make a lot of sense, but at the end of the day, Yzerman’s intention is clear.
Moving Valtteri Filppula, along with the draft picks and the newly acquired defenseman was an elaborate way for Yzerman to capitalize on Filppula’s rising value and free up some cap space for the Free Agency Period. Trading Valtteri Filppula freed up around $5 million in cap space for the Tampa Bay Lightning.
If we know Yzerman, which we feel like we do, he’ll be able to put the extra cap space to good use during the Free Agency Period; especially given the crazy amount of contracts the Lightning needs to re-sign after the conclusion of the 2016-17 season.
More From Bolts By The Bay: Ben Bishop Traded To LA Kings
Players like Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Jonathan Drouin, Slater Koekkoek, Jake Dotchin, and Gabriel Dumont are just a few of the plethora of contracts Yzerman needs to sign in the off-season. Many of those players, especially Johnson, Palat, and Drouin, are going to be looking for some serious bumps in salary.
Hopefully, the amount of cap space Yzerman has freed up with the surprising amount of trades he’s orchestrated over the course of the last couple of days will provide more than enough funding to give the players the money they deserve and keep as many of them here in the Bolts Nation as possible.
Next: Lightning Trade Brian Boyle To Maple Leafs
As we have with every other player who has exited the Bolts Nation over the course of the last few days, we here at Bolts By The Bay would like to wish Valtteri Filppula nothing but the best of luck as he makes his way to the City of Brotherly Love. Hopefully, he can continue his recent rise and kick start his new journey on a high note.