All quiet on Lightning front – for now; Boyle praises Tampa as he and Bishop make debuts

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
February 28, 2017

TAMPA, Fla. – Silence.

That defined the Lightning on Tuesday – at least above the surface.

With the countdown to the trade deadline ticking down, Steve Yzerman – who made plenty of noise the previous two days in trading Ben Bishop to Los Angeles and Brian Boyle to Toronto – did not make a move on Tuesday.

But there was plenty of chatter taking place below the surface that the Lightning are still trying to make moves ahead of Wednesday’s 3 p.m. deadline, with at least one player surfacing as a possible target to move.

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There was plenty of buzz of a potential deal that would involve Tampa Bay dealing veteran center Valtteri Filppula ahead of the deadline. Even TSN Insider Bob McKenzie weighed in on that possibility on Tuesday morning when he mentioned that Filppula was recently approached about waiving his modified no-trade clause to accept a deal to one of the 13 teams that are on his no-trade list.

Then when the Montreal Canadiens dealt center David Desharnais to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night, it potentially opened up a spot for a potential trade to the Canadiens, which is one of the teams that has been heavily scouting Tampa Bay in recent weeks.

There are also some possible links between Filppula and the Nashville Predators, a team that is looking for help at forward, specifically at center after the team sent Mike Ribeiro to the minors earlier this season. There was some rumblings that Riberio could potentially be on the move, which would help the Predators with some cap space to bring in another forward.

Nashville is another team that has shown some heavy interest at recent Tampa Bay games with assistant general manager Paul Fenton showing up at three recent Lightning games while Tampa Bay assistant general manager Pat Verbeek was in attendance at a pair of Nashville games last week.

Tyler Johnson has also possibly been linked to discussions with the Predators, which would be a net more of a return than Filppula.

But the key for Tampa Bay in any potential deal that is pulled off before the deadline is trying to alleviate some salary cap concerns for next year, which is what moving Filppula would open up. If Tampa Bay was able to move Filppula, it would also open up an additional spot on the team’s protected list for the expansion draft in June as he holds a no-movement clause in his contract, which means Tampa Bay is required to protect him from Las Vegas unless he waives the clause for the expansion draft.

But, as McKenzie added to his thread of Tweets regarding Filppula, we shall see.

Meanwhile, a couple of news and notes to pass along.

Tampa Bay placed center Gabriel Dumont on waivers on Tuesday, the last possible day to do so before the deadline. It does not mean he will necessarily be assigned to Syracuse of the American Hockey League if he clears, but the move has other results: first it allows the Lightning some roster flexibility if a move or two is made before the deadline, second it makes Dumont eligible to play for Syracuse in the AHL playoffs (of note, Luke Witkowski was not put on waivers which makes ineligible for Syracuse) and finally it allows newly acquired center Greg McKegg, who was claimed off waivers from the Florida Panthers, a spot on the fourth line if Dumont does head back to the minors.

Yanni Gourde, who was called up as roster insurance on Monday, was also returned to Syracuse on Tuesday.

On the ice Tuesday, both Bishop and Boyle made their debuts with the respective new teams.

Bishop got the start for Los Angeles in Calgary on the second half of a back-to-back for the Kings in a key Western Conference game. Bishop took the overtime loss as defenseman T.J. Brodie converted on breakaway with a backhand shot. Bishop finished with 28 saves.

Boyle made it to San Jose after leaving Tampa on Tuesday morning and was in the Leafs lineup against the Sharks, skating on the fourth line with Matt Martin and Josh Leivo.

Speaking of Boyle, he had some really good things to say about his time in Tampa, which I did not find a way to get in to my story about the move on Monday. So on a conference call with the media, I asked Boyle what he will take from his time with the Lightning and here is what he said.

”It was a real pleasure just to be a part of that whole run, especially the first year, getting through that first round was a real bear,’’ Boyle said. “Then just the support that we had and the energy in the building, I wasn’t quite expecting that much of it. And around town, going to the grocery store it was all positive and I wasn’t quite expecting to be as recognized, and we all were.

“The support we had down here and still have, they’ve really come accustomed to and grown a passion for hockey in Tampa that is growing. It’s a smaller market right now but it’s growing and it was fun to be a part of that run and to get that excitement. Some really good memories on some playoff runs and I know they had the Cup in 2004 and those guys deserve a ton of credit, but we wanted to keep it growing and continue to build that and make it a real hockey town down here. I think they’ve done a really good job of that with the ownership and what Mr. Vinik and what he has put in to this team, it was a lot of fun to be a part of that.’’

Would he consider a return this summer when he’s an unrestricted free agent?

”We are very thankful for what Tampa has done for us, we were close to her parents down here and it’s always going to hold a special place in our hearts,’’ he said. “But having said that, it’s not very fair to talk about that right now, I’m on a new team with high aspirations and that’s really exciting and I’m really looking forward to playing there.’’

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