Will Tampa Bay sell the farm for a winner?

Jay Feaster will not make a lateral move and that means the future is not worth much to him in an effort to bring in a top forward to bolster the Lightning's playoff push.

Speaking to Damian Cristordero of the St. Petersburg Times, "We're certainly looking to improve the hockey team but whatever we would like to do, we would do it if we didn't have to take anything out of the (locker) room."

Meaning young talent only holds sway if it is on the current team roster.

There are many teams in the league and many teams in pro-sports that started their downfall by being over-willing to make the deals it would take to acquire a top player from another franchise looking to cut payroll and rebuild. The Lightning, trading of blue-chip prospect Alex Svitov, is tempting fate with making prospects and draft picks expendable. The worst case scenario is that a player who's contract is up at year-end becomes a Bolt at the expense of a high round pick.

Stanley Cup be damned -- a franchise needs to be stocked at all levels instead of just having the core players for a title run.

I know I am in the minority in this department -- every fan wants someone brought in who will help get their team over the hump and put them over the top... Daryl Sydor's acquisition was one of these such moves - giving the Lightning a top four defensiveman that they have sorely lacked for years. Sydor's contract also has a good deal of time left on it, so that softens the blow of losing Svitov in the long run (and he was expendable with Vincent Lecavalier and Brad Richards taking the top two center roles), but how expendable should prospects in areas of weakness --the wings -- be? How expendable should draft picks be?

Don't give up on the future for the now. Having a team that is a perennial contender -- though can the word "perennial" be used with the labor stoppage fast approaching, and an unknown CBA in the future? -- is a much more responsible and exciting thing to watch than a one-hit wonder that wins the cup and has nothing to fall back on due to raiding their system for a winner now.