Stamkos Sticking Around... for Now

Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman announced today that he will not be trading Captain Steven Stamkos before this month’s NHL trade deadline.  A preemptive move that will hopefully quiet the distracting speculation and rumormongering, Yzerman’s announcement was emphatically clear.  From the press release:

"As February 29th approaches, I am stating today that Steven Stamkos will not be traded before the NHL’s trade deadline. I have said repeatedly that it is our hope to reach an agreement with Steven on a new contract at some point, and with 27 games remaining in the season, our entire organization, Steven included, wants to focus on making the playoffs. I will keep the negotiating process strictly between the involved parties and have no further comment on the state of those negotiations."

There’s exactly zero wiggle room there.  Zero.

J.T. Brown Continues to Give the Lightning Effective Minutes

I wrote earlier in the season that J.T. Brown had been really good for the Tampa Bay Lightning to that point.  It’s time to check in on the speedy forward once again.  The bottom line: He continues to give the Lightning really, really effective bottom-six minutes, and is quickly establishing himself as someone who should definitely be kept around moving forward.

It might seem a little bit crazy to fawn over a third line guy like that, but the reality of the situation is that depth is important.  Take a look at the Pittsburgh Penguins as a perfect example.  A team can have all the star power in the world, but without a strong supporting cast it’s going nowhere.  J.T. Brown is proving himself to be the definition of a strong supporting cast member this season. 

Lightning Might Have Something Special with the Namestnikov/Stamkos Duo

I wrote last weekend about Vladislav Namestnikov's emergence this year and how important it has been for the Tampa Bay Lightning.  It's been important from an on-ice perspective during a year when so many players have struggled, but it's also vitally important from a big-picture perspective.  Consider the following:

Namestnikov coming into his own is probably making it much easier on Yzerman to part ways with Drouin

— Brad Watson (@TBL4theCup) January 16, 2016

It's an interesting thought, and in this blogger's opinion it's right on the money.  The fact of the matter is that trading Drouin means losing a young, promising offensive player.  Having another young, promising offensive player in Namestnikov on the roster makes the thought of that loss more palatable, especially if the return for Drouin is reasonably substantial as expected.  I'm not saying that a Drouin trade is the best thing for Tampa, just that it might be easier to swallow now than it would have been before Namestnikov decided to go full superhero.

Namestnikov's Emergence is Key for Tampa Bay

There hasn’t been much to get excited about in Tampa Bay Lightning-land so far this season.  Aside from the odd happening, things have been fairly bleak for a while now.  With that said, one of the more exciting things to watch this year has been the emergence of Vladislav Namesnikov, the team’s first round pick from the 2011 draft. 

While some observers might point to his 16 points through 41 games this season and suggest that he hasn’t grown since putting up 16 points in 43 games last season, the reality is that he has taken huge strides forward.  The bottom line: Namestnikov is proving that he has what it takes to be a legitimate top-six forward at the National Hockey League level.  And that’s great news for the Lightning, especially when you consider that the team could very well be without Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Drouin by the time the 2016-17 season rolls around.

Drouin's Trade Request Goes Public

News broke yesterday that Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jonathan Drouin wants out.  His agent, Allan Walsh, went public with the request:

A statement from Jonathan Drouin's agent Allan Walsh regarding his client's future in TB: pic.twitter.com/Vhwet1IpTW

— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) January 3, 2016

Some Thoughts on the Drouin Demotion

Jonathan Drouin was sent down to the Syracuse Crunch today.  And, according to Erik Erlendsson of the Tampa Tribune, he wasn't too happy about it:

Just passed by a very unhappy looking Jonathan Drouin who said he is on his way to @SyracuseCrunch #TBLightning #SyrCrunch

— Erik Erlendsson (@erlendssonTBO) January 2, 2016

Erlendsson also had the opportunity to grab quotes about the move from both head coach Jon Cooper and general manager Steve Yzerman.  From his Tribune piece this morning:

"This is specifically to get him some playing time," said Yzerman.
"We have to go get him some games," said Cooper.

The motive here appears to be fairly clear: Yzerman wants him to play.  It sounds like a nice and noble goal on the surface, but does the way in which the team is going about it make a lot of sense?  Not even a little bit.

A Quick Analysis of J.T. Brown's Superb Effectiveness

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s start to the 2015-16 season has been underwhelming, to say the least.  Not only does the team look nothing like the squad that made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final last season, but it is also in serious danger of missing the playoffs.  Yes, it’s only December, but the NHL’s playoff picture has this funny habit of sorting itself out earlier than the spring.  The bottom line is that most Lightning players have failed to live up to expectations set based on previous performance.

Emphasis on “most.”