It’s not often you hear about the Tampa Bay Lightning and Steve Yzerman trying to make a big leap in the NHL draft. With a mixed review of this year’s draft class, it would seem especially fitting for the club to keep on the same course as usual and pick wisely with their later 1st round pick.
Yet a rumbling came out last night from a reliable source in Pierre LeBrum:
Aside from Vancouver, hearing Philadelphia and Tampa pushed real hard for first overall pick.
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) June 28, 2014
That just didn’t sound right, or seem like something the Bolts would do under current management. There were many a team that were looking to move up to #1 overall and rumors from days past focused on the Canadian teams – with Vancouver leading the charge – trying to acquire the Florida Panthers selection. With the weaker draft, with the great results of past years drafts in later rounds, would Steve Yzerman really explore moving up to the top selection? Apparently he did:
#TBLightning Yzerman did talk a few times with #Panthers about moving up to No. 1 overall pick Friday night. Obv Fla stood pat
— Joe Smith (@TBTimes_JSmith) June 28, 2014
It’s anyone’s guess just who and what was on the table from Yzerman, but one thing that just didn’t fit the effort was that Dale Tallon did not want to move down significantly in the 1st round, and Tampa Bay at #19 (and #28) was a serious drop.
