The Bolts
In July, the Raw Charge staff voted for their Top 25 Tampa Bay Lightning players Under 25 years of age. In August, after the ranking was finalized, the Lightning traded RFA Adam Erne to the Detroit Red Wings. So, instead of skipping Erne’s 11th position in the ranking order, or dropping everyone above him down and adding Oleg Sosunov to our list, we decided to write a prospect report on the 2020 fourth-round pick the Lightning got in return for Erne. The article was quite a funny ride. [Raw Charge]
The Lightning have made a total of 22 selections in the fourth round of the draft. Seven of those players have made it to the NHL in their career. If we include all of those players, below is our average Tampa Bay Lightning fourth rounder.
Name: A. Pick IV
Geo also wrote about the 1992 NHL Entry Draft, mulliganing the first draft for the Tampa Bay Lightning ever. [Raw Charge]
This one was pretty close, but ultimately, Gonchar’s greater offensive upside won out for me. Hamrlik was able to join the Lightning right away, but it took until his fourth season that he really broke out offensively putting up 65 points in 82 games in 1995-96 after three years of scoring 21-23 points. Hamrlik also didn’t last long with the Lightning as he was traded to the Edmonton Oilers during the 1997-98 season after just five and a half seasons with the Lightning.
The Prospects
Somehow, the Bolts have been keeping this legendary footage of Development Camp special guest instructor (and former Syracuse Crunch forward) Eric Neilson from us for about two months. How dare they!
Q: Was it a good idea putting a mic on former @syracusecrunch forward Eric Neilson while he was a special guest instructor at #BoltsDevCamp?
A: No. It was a GREAT idea. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/gULVtmwRPE
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) August 21, 2019
This is a nice preview for today’s Top 25 Under 25 article! You’ll never guess who’s featured at #10 in our rankings!
The sky is the limit for last season’s top rookies. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/oRn0zZHvXz
— AHL (@TheAHL) August 21, 2019
Congrats to the Syracuse Crunch staff for claiming the 2019 kickball championship! Hopefully they have a very short summer to train for their 2020 defense of the title.
The #SyrCrunch staff claimed a #KickballTuesday championship last night. We have our eyes on a repeat in 2020. pic.twitter.com/TgvRmFyba7
— Lukas Favale (@LukasFavale) August 21, 2019
Over in Orlando, former Mississauga Steelheads forward Mathieu Foget signs an extension with the club.
He’s back! Mathieu Foget is back with the Solar Bears after leading the team in scoring last season! https://t.co/ZaGKU0DXXq
— Orlando Solar Bears (@OrlandoHockey) August 21, 2019
The Game
In NHL news, the Minnesota Wild have officially moved on from Paul Fenton, signing former NHLer Bill Guerin to be their new GM. Guerin retired with the Pittsburgh Penguins after their two cups and has spent the last three years as their assistant GM and head of Wilkes-Barre Scranton. [The Athletic]
The 48-year-old replaces Paul Fenton, who was fired July 30 after one turbulent season as the head of the Wild’s hockey operations department. Guerin, who also interviewed for the job last offseason, bested a pool of candidates including Montreal Canadiens assistant GM Scott Mellanby and former Philadelphia Flyers GM Ron Hextall. It’s believed the Wild interviewed more than a dozen candidates, including the final one Tuesday.
i have an announcement: a new human joined our team pic.twitter.com/JNOEifDPTT
— mnwildpup (@mnwildpup) August 21, 2019
Can confirm via source, Peter Chiarelli was a finalist for the #Wild GM position.
— Murray Pam (@Pammerhockey) August 21, 2019
Over in Ottawa, the Sens have signed prospect Colin White to a six-year, $4.75 million AAV contract. The contract is backloaded to the final year of the deal where White will presumably be sold for prospects in yet another rebuild. Perhaps this one will start in Houston? [Silver Seven Sens]
After struggling on a weak Belleville Senators roster in 2017-18, White spent the entire of last season playing in the NHL, scoring 41 points in 71 games. Even before the departure of Matt Duchene, White worked his way up to playing on Ottawa’s first line at 22 years old, next to Mark Stone and Brady Tkachuk. His two-way style made him one of Ottawa’s more defensively solid players in a season where they were historically bad defensively, while also managing to hold his ground on offence.
Colin White’s six-year contract with the #Sens breaks down as follows: $4M in 2019-10, $4M in 2020-21, $4.75M in 2021-22, $4.75 in 2022-23, $4.75M in 2023-24 and $6.25M in 2024-25. pic.twitter.com/Zr9bt20nQZ
— Sens Communications (@Media_Sens) August 21, 2019
New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist is still out here fighting the good fight.
#NYR Henrik Lundqvist comes out in support of the Swedish Women’s boycott of the National team. Great read here from @rylanderjohan @BlueshirtBanter https://t.co/l1WRD85wto
— Patrik Bexell (@Zeb_Habs) August 21, 2019
And the New York Islanders have signed Derick Brassard to a one-year, $1.2 million contract. He’s likely going to play as their 3C next season. [Lighthouse Hockey]
The center, who is going to be 32 in September, is coming off the worst season of his career, a season in which he dressed for three different teams: the Penguins, the Panthers, and the Avalanche. He played in 70 games and managed just 23 points, but 14 of those points were goals.
#Isles Transaction: Derick Brassard has agreed to terms on a one-year contract. https://t.co/rECA1ECBLq
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) August 21, 2019
