Today at noon, Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman will be able to sign free agents. This morning, TSN’s Bob McKenzie began to tweet out his list of free agent deals that are most likely done. Among them, much to our chagrin, was Dan Girardi.
Dan Girardi to TB.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 1, 2017
Girardi was scheduled to get $4M from NYR pre-buyout. NYR will pay him $1.1M buyout this season. Add expected $ from TB and he’s likely $4M+
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 1, 2017
As we have previously written, signing Girardi will likely bump one of our developing defenders down on the lineup. Our current depth chart looks like this:
Mikhail Sergachev – Anton Stralman
Braydon Coburn – Andrej Sustr
In the words of @loserpoints, “Adding Girardi would almost certainly bump one of the younger players further away from the lineup. Dotchin and Koekkoek both need to be playing NHL minutes this year. Sergachev is expected to be ready to go this season as well.”
At around noon, we’ll write a story with the actual numbers and done deal. Until then, you can read more about our reservations about the deal here.
