x

Already member? Login first!

Comments / New

2016-17 Season Breakdown: Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Vegas Golden Knights

The Opponent:

Vegas Golden Knights

Games:

There were no games. No previews with team-vs-team breakdowns. No recaps with witty turns of phrases. No pictures. No nothing.

Stats:

Skaters:

Jason Garrison

Assets:

The rights to Nikita Gusev, 2017 second round pick, 2018 fourth round pick

View from the Other Side:

Did the Golden Knights hurt or help the Lightning this season?

Well, lets see. They took Jason Garrison and his $4.6 million cap hit so that’s good.  Garrison is, by all accounts, is a great guy, but if he is on the first pairing defense, then well…

The conversations between Steve Yzerman and George McPhee were undoubtedly complex.  After all, it’s not easy when the negotiations began like this:

There was hope among some of us that Mr. Yzerman would talk McPhee into taking Ryan Callahan, but once the Vegas general manager thought better of it once he saw this game tape:

It took awhile to hammer out a deal and Mr. Yzerman was reportedly frustrated because every time he mentioned a name, McPhee responded with:

Some fans were hoping Alex Killorn would be exposed and drafted, but McPhee wisely responded with:

When McPhee finally chose Gusev, I thought it was a little dramatic with Mr. Yzerman replying:

(yes it’s a different movie, but the old guy was a knight so it kind of fits.)

In the end, the Golden Knights helped the Lightning out by clearing out much needed cap space and it didn’t really cost the Lightning much. It was 50/50 if Gusev was ever going to come and play for them while they had extra picks to deal.

Unfortunately neither GM was able to provide the answer to the great question:

If you enjoyed this article please consider supporting RawCharge by subscribing here, or purchasing our merchandise here.

Support RawCharge by using our Affiliate Link when Shopping Hockey Apparel !