Tampa Bay Lightning Alumni Brian Boyle headed to New Jersey Devils
Much-loved former Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brian Boyle is headed to the New Jersey Devils, dashing any hopes of a reunion with the Lightning.
The day is finally upon us…the day which either makes or breaks the hearts of NHL fans all over the world. As of today, the 2017 NHL Free Agency Period is open and teams are now allowed to officially work out deals with any available player on the market.
There is one particular player on the market in which Tampa Bay Lightning fans were incredibly anxious to have added back to the team’s roster; a player in which many fans, including us, should’ve never been traded away in the first place. This player’s name is none other than Brian Boyle.
In the days leading up to the opening of the Free Agency Period, there was a tremendous rally from fans to bring the ultra-versatile Boyle back to the Bolts Nation. In fact, things went into an all-out frenzy when Boyle himself proclaimed how much he and his family would love to come back to Tampa and rejoin his teammates.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Unfortunately, we here at Bolts By The Bay come bearing some rather unpleasant news for everyone here in the Bolts Nation. It seems as if Brian Boyle will not be returning to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Making matters worse, he is moving North to a place we’ll see him plenty of times during the regular season.
According to TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie, Brian Boyle has signed a two-year contract with the New Jersey Devils. McKenzie reports Boyle’s deal with the Devils will bring him around $2.55 million per year.
The good news for Boyle is this is a nice bump from what he was making with the Tampa Bay Lightning. The downside, mainly for Lightning fans, is Boyle will be making his way to a team not wearing Lightning blue.
Brian Boyle will always remain in the hearts of Tampa Bay Lightning fans as “the one who got away.” Boyle was one of the most versatile players on the team. He could be that in-your-face forward ready to make a play happen, and in the blink of an eye, he could fill in on defense when one of his teammates went down.
At least for now, Boyle’s original trade and Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman’s unwillingness to entertain a reunion with Boyle remains a mystery. There are plenty of hurt feelings to go around, and this one is going to sting for a while.
At the same time, when the dust settles, we’re sure the bigger picture will come into focus and we will finally see what Yzerman had in play and his reasoning for making the decisions he has. There have been plenty of times we have questioned his reasoning in the past, and each of those has come to make total sense in the end.
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Until then, all Lightning fans can do is continue to lament the loss of an incredibly valuable player, look forward to the upcoming season, and place their valued trust in the Yzer-Plan.