Player News - Lightning

Date: Team: Pos:

Tampa Bay assistant coach Dan Lacroix will not serve in that role for the 2013-14 campaign.

Lacroix was brought in with former head coach Guy Boucher. Lacroix's contract will expire in June, but he might end up staying within the organization in some other capacity.
May 24 - 1:27 PM

Nate Thompson was thrilled to win a bronze medal with Team USA at the IIHF World Championship.

He called it "a once in a lifetime experience I will never forget." It was his first medal and second time he has competed for the United States at the tournament. "It was awesome," he said. "With the group of guys we had an how young we were, I don't think anyone would have picked us to do that. We had a pretty resilient group." Thompson generated a goal, three points and a plus-1 rating in 10 games.
May 22 - 12:06 PM

Vincent Lecavalier doesn't want to go anywhere.

"Yeah, I want to be here. I want to play here the rest of my career and I've always said that and will keep saying it," said the long-time Tampa Bay Lightning. "I've been here for 15 years now. I'm proud to be part of this organization." He's signed until 2020 and has a no-trade clause. Lecavalier was disappointed with how Tampa finished the 2013 campaign after a promising start, but he doesn't feel like the team is far away from returning to the playoffs.
May 21 - 8:06 AM

Vincent Lecavalier talked about Tampa Bay's disappointing 2013 campaign with Damian Cristodero of the St. Petersburg Times.

"Yeah, I mean, it's definitely disappointing. The way we started the year, I think we were 6-1 at one point after the first seven games," Lecavalier said. "Yeah, after 15, 20 games if you're outside, with everybody playing each other, it's tough to get back in, and it just seemed like it snowballed and we couldn't get close to getting back to that eighth spot." He had four goals and 11 points in his first seven games, but was hit in the foot by a shot from teammate Sami Salo on Feb. 2 which hampered him until it became a fracture when he collided with Florida defenseman Erik Gudbranson on March 12. "I felt really good when I started the year," he said, "but with that shot the ankle was very weak. ... It didn't seem to get better." He has dealt with some injury concerns over the past few seasons, which have hurt his fantasy value.
May 20 - 6:28 PM

Martin St. Louis has been nominated for the 2013 Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.

The other two finalists are Patrick Kane and Matt Moulson. St. Louis is a two-time winner of the award, but this time capturing the trophy would carry with it some extra meaning. He would join Stan Mikita and Wayne Gretzky as the only players to win both this award and the Art Ross Trophy in a single season. St. Louis had 60 points and 14 penalty minutes in 48 games.
Source: NHL.com
May 16 - 10:28 AM

Martin St. Louis is upbeat about the Lightning's future.

St. Louis feels confident about the players currently on the roster and said there's "no way" the Bolts can't turn things around next year. "[General manager] Steve Yzerman is a smart guy," St. Louis said. "He’s been in every situation. His experience, his knowledge, I have full confidence in what he’s trying to do. I feel some of his pain because he wants to win and it hasn’t gone the way he’d like to the last couple of years. It’s a tough act to follow after the first year we go to the conference final (in 2011) and we're one game away from the Stanley Cup final. I always feel when you set the bar like that it becomes a pretty big responsibility."
May 14 - 11:16 AM

Steven Stamkos has been Canada's best forward at the IIHF Championships.

This should not be a surprise. Stamkos has scored four goals and registered nine points in leading Canada to a 4-0-1 record.
May 11 - 1:03 PM

Martin St. Louis has been named a finalist for the Ted Lindsay Award, given annually by the NHL Players Association to the league's "most outstanding player."

The veteran winger will be in tough for the award against young stars Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington's Alex Ovechkin. St. Louis won the trophy back in 2004 when it was known as the Pearson Award and he led the NHL in scoring in 2013 with 60 points in 48 games. He also led the league with 43 assists.
May 9 - 12:42 PM

Tampa Bay Lightning director of scouting Al Murray is hoping that prospect goalie Andrei Vasilevski plays in North America next season.

He has one year left on his contract with Ufa of the KHL but his deal has a buy-out clause, according to Murray. If he doesn't play overseas then he could skate for Mississauga in the OHL, since they own his junior rights, or with Syracuse in the AHL. Vasilevski was the 19th overall pick in the 2012 draft.
May 8 - 10:22 AM

Steve Stamkos had a goal and three assists in Canada's 7-1 rout of Norway at the IIHF World Championships on Tuesday.

At this point, we have to imagine European clubs just wish Stamkos' Lightning would make the playoffs and leave them alone. Edmonton teammates Taylor Hall (two goals) and Devan Dubnyk (13 saves) also aided Canada's cause. With the win, Canada is second in its pool with seven points, trailing only Switzerland's eight points.
May 7 - 5:14 PM

The Lightning are eager to add an impact player at No. 3 in the NHL draft.

The Lightning are excited to add a promising young player, but they're also more than willing to be creative with the pick. "We feel pretty good,’’ director of scouting Al Murray said. "I think this year at three gives you lots of opportunity that you might get the No. 1 player on your list because everybody sees it a little differently. …There is a legitimate chance we could get the No. 1 guy on our overall list at three, which gives (general manager) Steve (Yzerman) the flexibility to look at moving back or moving it for a player. I think anybody in the top five has a prospect that is very close to playing in the NHL and playing at a high level, so that’s a very valuable pick this year. And I think teams will look at it that way. So, I think it gives us a lot of opportunity this year because the asset is that good.’’
May 7 - 10:59 AM

Tampa Bay has inked Radko Gudas to a three-year, one-way contract.

Financial terms were not immediately made available. The hard-hitting defenseman appeared in 22 games with the Lightning this past season, while posting two goals, five points, 38 penalty minutes and a plus-3 rating. Gudas was also credited with 87 hits.
May 6 - 5:41 PM

Cedric Paquette has agreed to a three-year, entry-level deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Paquette had 27 goals, 83 points, and 103 penalty minutes in 63 QMJHL games this season. He was taken in the fourth round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
May 3 - 6:33 PM

There's been some speculation in Tampa that the Lightning may buy out the remainder of Ryan Malone's contract.

He has two years left on his current deal at a $4.5 million cap hit. However, GM Steve Yzerman wasn't willing to discuss his thought process just yet. "We'll spend the next month figuring out our plan," Yzerman said. "I'm not really concerned with where we are with the cap. It's not going to be an issue for us as far as what we want to do."
May 1 - 11:37 AM

Tampa Bay Lightning sign Nikita Nesterov to three-year entry-level contract.

Nesterov spent the past three season playing in the KHL after the Lightning drafted him in the fifth round in 2011. Nesterov had one assist, 14 penalty minutes and a plus-6 rating in 35 regular-season games for Chelyabinsk Traktor this season.
Apr 30 - 4:29 PM


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