Tampa Bay Lightning Trade Deadline: Six Days Away

It seems as though this trade deadline will be as busy for the Lightning as any team in the NHL looking to deal many of their veterans and retool for the future. It is unlikely that we will see names such as Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos dealt but we will see quite a few names from the Lightnings roster gone come March 4th.

Pack Your Bags

Mark Recchi

Recchi brings a ton of experience to the table as well as a bit of a scoring touch. He has recorded 13 goals and 26 assists in his 60 games with Tampa Bay and would help young teams looking for some playoff experience/veteran leadership.

Teams Interested: Chicago Blackhawks, Vancouver Canucks, Minnesota Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins

Gary Roberts

Like Recchi, Roberts bring plenty of experience to any team that he is traded to. Unlike Recchi however Roberts does not provide a significant amount of offense with six points in 28 games. Roberts has also dealt with some injuries over the last season. If you are a team looking for a 3rd/4th liner who can add some depth and playoff experience then Gary Roberts is your man.

Teams Interested: Pittsburgh Penguins (Round 2?), Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers

Don’t Make March 5th Dinner Reservations

Jeff Halpern

After missing the first half of the season with ACL surgery, Jeff Halpern returned to a team that was already out of the playoff race. Halpern has only played 31 games this season and has scored a total of 11 points. Recently Halpern’s name had been mentioned to be headed to Chicago but with the Blackhawks real need being a top six forward Halpern’s name has not been discussed as much.

Teams Interested: Minnesota Wild, Chicago Blackhawks, Washington Capitals

Sounds Strange By Anything Could Happen

Vaclav Prospal

There had been rumors that the Lightning were shopping Prospal to some playoff contenders but that talk has seemed to die down. Prospal signed a long-term contract with the Lightning over the off-season and it is unlikely that he will be dealt but if the Lightning are looking to cut salary then he might be the easiest to move with is cap hit only be $3.5 million, not bad for a second line center. 

Teams Interested: ?

Big Name Trade?

Even though I don’t think that Vincent Lecavalier , Steven Stamkos or Martin St. Louis won’t be traded it would seem that one of these three could be traded. If I had to choose one it would be Martin St. Louis, primarily because he has a low cap hit for a high scorer and he can help a team like the Penguins for years to come, although they just added Chris Kunitz. 

All and all I believe that Wednesday March 4th will be a big day for the Tampa Bay Lightning as we will see quite a few names headed out of Tampa Bay and plenty of draft picks and prospects headed in. Only time will tell who will stay and who will go but I guarantee you that it will not be a quite day in Tampa front office.

Posted by Michael Wagner on Feb 26 2009. Filed under Eastern Conference, NHL Rumors, Southeast, Tampa Bay Lightning, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.