The Bolts
Brayden Point had an exceptional season for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Site manager Alan takes a look at just how great his season was. [Raw Charge]
I have to say, if Brayden Point doesn’t get an A+ for his season, I’m not sure what possibly would. He was the fourth best player in the NHL by WAR. He was a massive play driver. His offensive impacts were outrageous. His defensive impacts were about average. I guess if you’re looking for an area of improvement, that’s it. But that’s the nittiest of nitpicking. Point did as much as we can reasonably hope for any player to do in a season.
Erik Karlsson is not a Bolt, but he might be. After his season concluded with a Western Conference Final loss to the St. Louis Blues, Karlsson gave the fans of the San Jose Sharks a loving goodbye on Twitter. He’s likely to hit the open market, meaning the Lightning have a chance to bring in a player that obviously wants to be here. [The Athletic: paywall]
Thank you to the entire @SanJoseSharks organization, fans, and especially teammates. It was a great run that ended too early. But lots of great memories where created. The entire Bay Area has been nothing but classy and respectful to me and my family. Thank you.
— Erik Karlsson (@ErikKarlsson65) May 24, 2019
Rasmus Ristolainen is available for the right price. Should the Lightning be interested? No. They very much should not be interested. No thank you, Buffalo. [The Athletic: paywall]
We know the good things about Ristolainen: He produces on the power play and he can be physical around the net and in the corners. Of his 194 career points, 95 of them have come on the power play. We also know the bad: His decision-making can be questionable. As Ryan Stimson noted recently, his puck-handling could use a little bit of work and his advanced statistics are decidedly not good. There’s also his career minus-143 plus-minus rating, which just screams about how bad the teams he’s played for have been, but also indicts his own play.
Don’t mind Mathieu Joseph, he’s just out there in Slovakia making lots of friends.
From @tsn_wally at #IIHFWorlds: How Mathieu Joseph’s pre-game handshake rituals have helped galvanize Team Canada https://t.co/APABGNQbTT #TSNHockey pic.twitter.com/V32f4zCMsF
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) May 24, 2019
The Prospects
The Lightning organization has decided to let go of Syracuse Crunch / Orlando Solar Bears forward Jonne Tammela, terminating his contract after he passed through unconditional waivers. [Raw Charge]
The Tampa Bay Lightning placed forward Jonne Tammela on unconditional waivers today. Weather a buyout, or a mutual termination, it means that the Lightning and Tammela will be parting ways with one year left on his entry level contract. In 51 career games in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch, Tammela only managed four goals and 11 points. He put up 13 goals and 26 points in 23 games for the Orlando Solar Bears in the ECHL this past season.
The Game
The next Winter Olympics will be in 2022 in China. The host country has been awarded a place in the Men’s Ice Hockey tournament, meaning Slovakia will be forced to play in qualifying. The odds they make the top 16 is very high, so they shouldn’t be too worried. What will be interesting is to see where Great Britain (who were in the World Championships this year and will be back next year) stands in three years time. Hopefully for the sport it’s higher than they are now.
With China being granted an automatic spot in the hockey tournament as the host country, Slovakia—9th in the IIHF rankings—will have to go through qualifying for the 2022 Olympic hockey tournament. Jaromir Jagr works for the Chinese federation and supported their host placement. https://t.co/uVQVnNsA5j
— Gord Miller (@GMillerTSN) May 24, 2019
The Boston Bruins are going to be serving their fans some terribly tasty food in the Stanley Cup Final. Just look at their menu. [Russian Machine Never Breaks]
As the Boston Bruins enter the Stanley Cup Final, TD Garden has released a new menu at concession stands. The food options go from strange to stranger, but there is one item on the list that caught my eye: A DOUGHNUT BURGER.
This is a burger. Using doughnuts. As buns.
Sign me up.
These items will be at concession stands at TD Garden during the Stanley Cup Final. I may or may not make my way to a concession stand at some point, or at a lot of points. pic.twitter.com/jRFJsU5oca
— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) May 24, 2019
For the contract nerds (aka: me), here is the complete list of NHL draft picks that must be signed by 5pm on June 1st in order for teams to retain their rights. The Bolts do not have a player in this category. If they’re smart, they’ll keep an eye on some of the unsigned players and try to snatch some of the extra talent for the depth charts.
With 8 days to go, here’s the current list of previously drafted players who must be signed to an Entry Level contract by June 1st at 5pm ET by their respective clubs.
If unsigned by the June 1st deadline, the drafting club will lose their signing rights to these players. pic.twitter.com/kRFOXc3C8j
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) May 24, 2019
