TAMPA, FL -- New Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik did not wait long to make his mark on his team, firing then GM Brian Lawton and head coach Rick Tocchet the day after the season ended last April.
Apparently, Vinik does not take no for an answer.
Beginning what may be the most impressive rebuild this summer, Vinik landed the biggest fish in the pond to run his NHL team in Hall of Famer and hockey legend Steve Yzerman. Many were immediately skeptical of this move, citing the lack of experience that Yzerman had leading an NHL team, even though he was tutored by one of the best GMs in the business in Ken Holland of the Detroit Red Wings. Yzerman even turned the job down when first contacted by the Bolts.
Vinik and Yzerman immediately preached patience and how the rebuild would be "methodical."
One of the first moves Yzerman made was to hire his head coach, Guy Boucher, of the Hamilton Bulldogs. Boucher was high on a number of teams radars this off-season, and Lightning fans started to see what I have coined “the Yzerman effect.”
The Yzerman effect is defined as a player, or executive wanting to come here solely based on the idea that they would be working under the hockey legend, Steve Yzerman. Boucher comes to the Lightning with the hopes of making his almost legendary 1-3-1 system, which has been vastly successful in the AHL, a mainstay in the NHL.
The first surprise of the Yzerman era came through the NHL Entry Draft. The Lightning, holding the 6th pick overall, were in desperate need of defensive help, and it was assumed that the pick would be a defensive prospect, assuming one fell to them. Yzerman shocked the Staples Center and the NHL by selecting forward Brett Conolly. With Connolly’s injury history, it is a huge risk with a potential huge reward.
When Yzerman took over the team, he inherited quite a few bad contracts that were a result of bad deals under the previous regime. Most thought these would handicap the rookie GM from being able to improve his roster, mostly because of the extensions and contract renewals that still are on the horizon for Steven Stamkos, Steve Downie, and Victor Hedman.
Yzerman threw the next major curveball of the off-season on just minutes before the beginning of the opening of unrestricted free agency when he traded under-performing defenseman Andrej Meszaros to the Philadelphia Flyers for a 2nd round pick. The first of what would be many salary dumps.
For his next trick, Yzerman extended the contract of the heart and soul of the team in Marty St Louis. This in itself was a huge move because of the comments St. Louis made shortly after the season about wanting to play for a winner and not wanting to go through another re-build. At the time, St Louis even hinted to the fact that he would consider a trade if he did not feel comfortable with the direction the team was heading in. That he was willing to extend his contract so quickly is truly a testament to the work of both Vinik and Yzerman this summer.
Leading up to the July 1 UFA period, Yzerman stressed the idea of getting a second NHL goaltender under contract with the expected departure of the Antero Niittymaki. He wasted no time signing former Nashville goaltender Dan Ellis. This particular signing is intriguing because this re-unites a goaltending duo from when both players were in the Dallas Stars organization.
Yzerman then turned to the defensive side of the roster. He landed former Lightning defenseman Pavel Kubina for a return stint.
Kubina enjoyed some of the best years of his career here in Tampa, which culminated in the Stanley Cup run. Yzerman also added depth to the defensive core when he signed former Avalanche defenseman Brett Clark.
The big question remaining for the defense will be whether there will be a return of Paul Ranger. Ranger, who sat out most of last year with undisclosed personal issue, is reportedly not ready to commit to coming back this year.
Up front, Yzerman may have made the biggest splash of the off-season so far when he landed Simon Gagne from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Matt Walker and a 4th round pick.
In adding Gagne, the Lightning has one of the better pair of scoring lines in the east, and the cost was next to nothing. If Gagne can find his scoring touch, and stay healthy, then getting pucks in the net should not be an issue for this team.
Yzerman then addressed his bottom-six by adding Dominic Moore, who had a standout season in Montreal, helping that team get deep into the playoffs.
For all the good that has been done this off-season, there is still work to be done.
The bottom six still needs some tweaking and there is probably still room for another defenseman.
That being said, overall this has been a great off-season for Yzerman. He has made his mark on the roster, without exposing the future, and has made his job down the road even easier with less major bad contracts to deal with. If forced to give a grade, it would have to be an A.
