Yzerman has already been able to secure the future of the Lightning both offensively and defensively by signing Lightning captain Steven Stamkos and defenseman Victor Hedman to their own respective eight-year contracts. Bishop, who has a partial no-trade clause, had not been told he is getting traded, agent Allain Roy said Friday. “I can’t sit here and say that this past week has been fun”. “To what extent, I’m not sure”.
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“I’m glad it’s over with”.
Boston also resigned defenseman John-Michael Liles to a one-year, $2 million deal and signed free agent goaltender Anton Khudobin to a two-year, $2 million deal.
Hedman was originally drafted by the Lightning in the first round, second overall, in the 2009 draft.
“It’s about time this team starts heading in the right direction”, he said. “I mean I’d be lying if (I said) it doesn’t”.
“But I just remember when I was named captain, where we were at as a team”.
If nothing else, the level of stress on his shoulders should be greatly reduced come the fall.
In 470 career National Hockey League games with the Lightning over the past seven seasons, he has 49 goals and 229 points to go along with a plus-30 rating and 384 penalty minutes. “For me and Stammer, we want to win together and that was obviously a big goal that we have is to go all the way together with Tampa”.
Finally, I have to throw this tidbit in after asking the question of Hedman during his conference call.
“In saying that as well, it’s something that was an experience”. “And for me, it was just following your heart and being loyal to an organization that has brought me up and made me the player and the person I am today”.
Perhaps the biggest win for everyone involved in the drawn-out negotiation was that virtually everything was kept in-house.
General manager Steve Yzerman has said he’ll have to trade one of his goalies before June 2017 to avoid one of them being claimed.
As soon as Stamkos chose to stay in Tampa Bay, it seemed to open the floodgates.
Based on his decision, it didn’t come down to money.
Tampa Bay has about $13 million in cap space for next season; the cap will be around $73 million. If something that makes sense happen a day from now, a month from now, at the trade deadline, we’ll look at it. “I think for me I realized the situation, and I understood that there could have been some money left out there”.
No, for him this was about comfort and the chance to chase a Stanley Cup. The 25-year-old was in the running for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP when Tampa Bay lost to the Chicago Blackhawks in the final. “We’re a close group”, he said. But Yzerman, at least for the time being, doesn’t seem overly concerned with that at this point.
The most important thing Stamkos believes he has in place with head coach Jon Cooper is an open line of communication to discuss any issues that might pop up along the way. “There’s always going to be a little bit of confrontation”.
After eight years, that’s what the Lightning represented to him.
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The Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings were among the teams that expressed interest in Stamkos. For us moving forward, it’s going to be important for everyone to buy into that.
