REPORTS: Dwayne Roloson traded to Tampa Bay

no. 1 star plays great both games then we send him down… should be desjardins and roloson as our two goalies. get rid of smellis

You send either one down to Norfolk – Smith or Ellis – then you’re cutting into Desjardins & Tokarski’s playing time.

According to a tweet I saw, buyouts cannot happen in the middle of the season. So now what? A trade? Good grief… who’d want either of the ones we have now (Roloson excluded, of course).

It’s going to take more than a pick to get a D I think. I could see a Feaster roster holdover in Norfolk getting dealt in a package. But, Smellis will have to be piggybacked onto a trade. I’m pretty sure.

Or we’ll have to overpay to get rid of him/them

We’re all still tlaking Desjardins — and I almost think he was the key to getting this done. Indirectly, of course.

Interesting. Like he shined the light on how good the team can do when there’s someone back there who instills some confidence?

Speaking of people running Roloson, he’s pretty good at calling attention to it. Sometimes that’s a dive, but it’s rarely (if ever) fabricated. The refs are so inconsistent with goalie interference calls; he tends to give them friendly Grumpy Old Man reminders.

I think next season will be taken care of with Desjardins in the mix. He played very well for 2 games here. I know that 2 good games do not a season (or career) make, but with more consistent playing time (which he would probably not get with the big club) he will be a very good long term solution to the goalie problem.

I also agree that the trade was a good one from the Tampa perspective. And since Smith is still on IR, they have a bit of time to decide what to do with Smith and/or Ellis.

Actually it was noted in the news yesterday that Joe Niewendyk has now been given the ok to talk to Richard’s agent about an extension/re-signing. They had to wait for the ownership situation to become a bit more settled (boy, don’t we know all about THAT), but the ownership has apparently given it’s blessing to try and resign Richie.

The issue has been DEPTH in the Lightning system. We’ve been over thsi before — just because there seems to be depth now doesn’t mean everyone is expendable.

It’s one thing to make the hold over prospects from Feaster’s/Lawton’s regime expendable (Mihalik). It’s another thing to gut recent draft picks (two of the guys you cited). That raids the long term for the short term.

Wishart was expendable long-term. It was never clear where or how he fit. Other forwards have been gestating in the AHL and seeing some playing time in the NHL but ultimately might do better elsewhere (Mihalik, Chewie, Blair Jones). It doesn’t mean sell them off for nothing. Nor does it mean sell off everything you have long term for a guy who doesn’t fit in long term (Richards).

There’s another season after this year, and another, and another. Roloson for someone who doesn’t fit into the plans makes sense. Trading away people who are part of the plans for a single cup run doesn’t make sense either. You gotta be extra careful on the pieces you bring in and the expenses you pay to get those pieces.

You’re welcome! :D