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Quick Strikes: Dan Girardi and Tampa Bay Lightning both hungry for redemption

"I'm going to block shots, hit guys, do whatever I can to keep the puck out of our net."

The Bolts

Every October you see teams scramble to shove players through waivers, some of their teammates are allowed to be sent down without issue, and others still see their contracts magically delayed for another season! How is all this possible? BoltsGuy04 has written a lovely “Waivers & Entry-Level Contracts for Dummies” guide so we all don’t have to try and read the CBA (which is something I’m currently trying to do... It’s very hard). [Raw Charge]

Dan Girardi spoke with the media yesterday for the first time since joining the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. “Girardi, who signed a two-year, $6 million contract this month, joins forward Chris Kunitz, who brings four Stanley Cup rings to the dressing room, as a pair of veterans who can give the Lightning something the team was missing last season.” [Tampa Bay Times]

"Bringing in Dan Girardi and Chris Kunitz, I believe we're a stronger defensive team. I think we're going to be a team that has a little abrasiveness to it, a little harder to play against." - Steve Yzerman

"Well, I'm not going to go out there and start fighting guys but I will stick up for teammates and I will finish checks and play hard, and I think that will help out the team." - Dan Girardi

The Crunch

Our very own Alexandra (@Allovimo in Twitter) was at the Syracuse Crunch’s Fan Forum hosted by owner Howard Dolgon. She live tweeted the entire thing. I’m going to post some of the highlights down below:

Top 25 Under 25

#14: Mathieu Joseph will be starting his pro career with the AHL Syracuse Crunch after a great junior career that included a U20 World Junior Championships silver medal for Canada, and back to back seasons where he was better than a point per game. “With Joseph’s offense taking such great strides the past two seasons, his future is looking a bit higher than it was when he was drafted. He was viewed as being a potential third line, energy winger that played a pretty smart two-way game at the time. Since then, he has more of the looks of a player that can end up on the second line and contribute on the power play.” The Crunch will be stacked with wingers this season meaning Joseph will have to earn every bit of icetime he gets. [Raw Charge]

#15: Dennis Yan (who was acquired courtesy of Eric Brewer) will be making the jump to pro this season after a very successful junior career. “In each of his three years in juniors, Dennis Yan has put up more than a point per game, 64 in his draft year, 69 the following year, and 75 this past year, in 59, 62, and 64 regular season games, respectively. He has also added 20 goals and 8 assists in 33 playoff games across that same time span for the Shawinigan Cataractes.” [Raw Charge]

#16: Cedric Paquette has been been improving every year since he was drafted 101st overall in 2012. This is the year we find out of Ceddy has what it takes to be a full time NHLer, or not. “In this being another contract year, I’d expect Paquette to have a really good season. When he’s on top of his game, he’s an agitator who can chip in on the scoresheet from time to time. His best assets are his penalty killing and ability to get under the skin of the opposition.” [Raw Charge]

The Game

The Division Rival Ottawa Senators have re-signed centerman Jean-Gabriel Pageau to a three year deal. Pageau will make a total of $9.3 million (cap hit of $3.1 million) over those three years with the full breakdown in the tweet below. There are no signing or performance bonuses associated with this contract. [Cap Friendly]

Speaking of three year deals for French-Canadian centermen who had a great playoffs, Frederick Gaudreau of the Nashville Predators will be making an average of $666,667 until the end of the 2019-20 season. [Cap Friendly]

Nolan Patrick is not French-Canadian but he is a centerman who just signed a 3 year contract! The 2nd overall draft selection in the 2017 NHL Draft has signed his entry-level contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. “He’ll earn $925,000 per year in base salary, and as a No. 2 overall pick, the rest will be loaded with bonuses. We’ll have to wait to learn his exact cap hit at the end of the season once those bonus marks are reached or not.” The maximum amount of bonus money a player can make results in a $3.775 million cap hit. Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, and Nico Hischier all have the max bonuses but Patrick does not. He will only be able to make $3.575 million if he hits all of his bonuses. [Broad Street Hockey and Cap Friendly]

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