So far the Tampa Bay Lightning have had a quiet trade season. They lost Jack Finley on waivers, made some minor trades, but all-in-all, general manager Julien BriseBois has been pretty content with his often injured, but still conference-leading roster. Could that change over the next 20+ hours? If history is any indication, yes, yes it will.
As usual, there hasn’t been much solid reporting on the Lightning’s trade interests. Yes, there has been speculation and tires kicked on names like Steven Stamkos and Nazem Kadri. The Bolts were reportedly in on Artemi Panarin, but not interested in the cost of an extension. So, where there is emptiness, something must fill the void. While we speculated on some players at the end of January, please allow us to add to the undocumented, unsubstantiated, unlikely rumor mill as we ponder a couple of possibilities that might help the Lightning on their quest to claim a fourth Stanley Cup.
Taylor Raddysh
New York Rangers, 28-years-old, right-shot winger, signed through 2026-27 at $1.5 million AAV
Yup, right out of the gate we’re leaning into two of Mr. BriseBois’ favorite tendencies – a reunion, and a bargain deal with a little bit of term. Throw in the “Brothers Back Together to Chase a Cup” angle and we’re an animated singing hockey puck away from a Disney movie.
With the Rangers latest rebuild/retool on it’s way to being dismantled it appears they are listening to any and all offers. While Vincent Trochek is soaking up a lot of digital ink, there are some other components that might intrigue some teams with Raddysh being one of them.
The former Lightning draft pick isn’t going to jump into the top-six for the Bolts should they choose to acquire him. As his career moves on his 20-goal campaign in 2022-23 for Chicago seems more and more like an outlier. However, that doesn’t mean he is devoid of value. The 28-year-old has 9 goals on the season while playing a bottom-six role for the Rangers this season, a total that is already the third highest of his career. He is a right-shot, something that the Lightning don’t have a wealth of on their roster, and he could, in theory provide some help on the power play. Oh, and he’s been pretty okay defensively for a team that isn’t exactly killing it this year.
Also playing in his favor is the fact that he is signed through next season with a cap hit of $1.5 million. JBB loves himself some financial stability. Also, the price to acquire Raddysh wouldn’t be that much. It’s extremely unlikely (other not out of the realm of possibility) that the Bolts would part with anything of significance for Raddysh’s services.
It’s not a franchise-altering deal, but it would give the Lightning an option on the fourth line that could provide more offense than Curtis Douglas or Scott Sabourin.
Ryan Strome
Anaheim Ducks, 32-years-old, right-shot center, signed through 2026-27 at $5 million AAV
It doesn’t appear the Anaheim Ducks are actively shopping their veteran center, but they are listening to offers. If they are intrigued by what a team offers them, they might pull the trigger on a trade. Couple that with the fact that Mr. BriseBois rarely disappoints other GMs with his offer and there could be a match in the making.
With the wave of talent that Anaheim has on the roster, Strome has seen his playing time diminish, and a trade to another organization might be welcomed (not that he would have any official say in it as he has no trade protections in his contract), and despite his numbers being down a bit this season, he has skills that other teams might relish.
Oh yeah, and the 13-year veteran is also a right-handed centerman. The Bolts could use one of those, right? While he’s no Claude Giroux in the face-off dot, he is averaging about 47% on overall on draws this year and 49.1% in the defensive zone. The current Lightning forwards with a better defensive zone draw number are: Jake Guentzel (53.8% – a winger), Dominic James (53.2% – out for the season), and Nick Paul (51.3% – currently injured).
As we mentioned, his numbers are a bit down as he has just 3 goals and 6 assists in 33 games, but he’s been a 40-50 point guy for the past six seasons. Strome was out for the first month of the season with an upper-body injury and just never seemed to get into the groove for the Ducks.
With his pedigree and price tag, it would take some finagling to make it work in regards to the salary cap, but that’s never really stopped JBB in the past. The obvious answer, Oliver Bjorkstrand, who has a similar cap hit at $5.4 million, could be a possibility if they are looking for a veteran winger to help out Beckett Sennecke and Troy Terry, their other natural right-hand shot wingers. An extra couple of picks and a prospect in the Dylan Duke/Ethan Gauthier/Jayson Shaugabay realm could help sweeten the pot.
We’ll see what Julien BriseBois has up his custom-tailored sleeves over the next day. Will it be one of these two players? Probably not, but chances are we will be surprised.
