Defense The Target!!
2015-12-27
It was a busy week for GM Hill who felt The Tampa Bay Lightning needed a boost on the back end. At the beginning of the week, players such as Keith Aulie, Karl Stollery, Alex Grant, and Alex Biega were playing important minutes on the pro team which somehow was able to stay above water and put together a respectable record at 15-10. Now I don't mean to knock those players, but they were forced into a situation that was way above their pay grade.
The first trade was pretty minor. The trade brought veteran Chris Phillips to The Lightning from Carolina in exchange for Alex Biega, a 2016 4th round pick, and a $1 million. Phillips paid immediate dividends against his former team The Hurricanes, scoring his first goal of the season. Phillips will bring a steady, no bullshit type of leadership and performance which is needed for such a young defense in the pro ranks.
The second trade was a little bigger than the Chris Phillips one. This deal sent fan favourite Jordan Eberle along with two farm hand defensemen to The Boston Bruins for young center Nazem Kadri, rough and tough defensemen Erik Gudbranson, veteran Max Talbot and two prospects in Parker Wotherspoon and Kevin Labanc. Even though Eberle was a fan favourite, his production was not as expected this year with only 15 points in 27 games while posting a not to pretty -5 rating. ``We expect our star players to produce, Jordan was our best player, but he was not playing like it`` said GM Hill. Eberle became expendable as well because of the need for defensive upgrades in order to get the Lighting to the playoffs. Kadri is a player that has not become what he was expected to be but he has been a solid producer and should continue this. The other key piece to this move was getting young defender Erik Gudbranson. Gudbranson is another player that hasn’t lived up to the lofty expectations that were placed on him. He is a solid defender that will stick up for his teammates when needed. ``We see Erik as a potential captain in the coming years due to his steady, simple play he displays and the natural leadership abilities that are clear to see in the young man``, GM Hill said. The two prospects also add an intriguing element to the deal. Wotherspoon is a young defender player for the Tri-City Americans in the WHL and has put up 27 points in only 33 games. Impressive numbers for a defenseman in the WHL but the one concern is his -17 rating. He was only drafted in 2015 so there is lots of time for him to work on his defensive game, Tampa Bay does not need to rush him. The other prospect is high scoring Kevin Labanc from the Barrie Colts in the OHL. Labanc exploded last year with 107 points in 68 games. The test was this year because he lost his line mates from last year and was going to be leaned on heavily to reproduce that kind of production. Labanc has not disappointed posting 49 points in 30 games. Labanc is a little on the small side at only 5``11``, 179 lbs but he is a quick skater with very good hands which make him deadly on the side boards on the power play. Labanc is also already 20 so he will be making the jump the The Crunch roster at the end of his junior season.
The third and final deal of the week sent super skilled but idiotic winger Joshua Ho-Sang, along with Jonathon Diaby and a 3rd round pick in the 2017 draft for undersized but skilled defensemen Ryan Ellis. The sense that we get about this deal is the GM Hill had enough of Ho-Sang`s attitude and irresponsible behaviour since being drafted. There were rumours about Ho-Sang missing practices in junior and during training camp due to all night drinking with none other than Justin Bieber. Also numerous accounts of Ho-Sang spending a lot of time at gentlemen clubs. Ryan Ellis brings more skill, contract controllability and experience to a much improved defense that should have free agent signing Antti Niemi laughing all the way the bank to collect his $8 million pay cheque while having less to worry about while playing since there will be no more AHLers playing in front of him.
So after those trades, the new and improved defense group for The Lighting will look like the following.
Pietrangelo - Brodie
Ellis - Gudbranson
Phillips - Moore
Not too bad considering what it looked like a week ago.