The Goalie Situation

[dannyb24195]

Lindback out, Nabokov in. We all know Bish and Nabokov will be the goalies next year but what happens after that? Bish is entering his final year of his two year deal and Nabokov is also an FA next year. If Bish plays up to his level and production of last year this upcoming season he will be in for a big raise probably in the region of $5.5 - $6 mill per. Can the bolts afford to pay that? It's hard to say, the Bolts don't have a great amount of cap space especially when you consider all the young players the bolts have to pay and Yzerman has to be wary of the amount of $$$ Stamkos is going to demand. The bolts also have some young goalies coming through is Gudlevskis and Vasilevskiy, locking Bishop up could give the Lightning a Luongo/Schneider situation.

On the other hand, after next year Gudlevskis would be 23 and Vasilevskiy would be 20 and although talented they are both very young ages to be NHL goalies, it takes years upon years for a goalie to be developed enough to be a NHL ready. You don't want to rush these guys and hurt their development process. So there is a case to keep Bish but then again he's going to command dollars and years plus you may have a dilemma down the line. Another negative would be allowing a goalie of his caliber walk for nothing perhaps, they could get a pick for his rights but let's say if they shopped him now, Yzerman would demand high end prospects and/or picks.

It will be interesting to see how Yzerman let's this whole goalie situation play out, one thing we know is that it ain't going to be easy.

 

[I_Shall_Return]

The Florida Marlins did this back in 1997 & won the World Series that year to only not be able to re-sign everyone the following year. Not only were they unable to sign everyone for the following season but their owner sold the team. Basically, he bought a World Series trophy! I hope this does not happen for the Bolts! I don't see how they will be able to keep every asset player due to what Danny touched on above. Stammers is going to want a load & deserves it quite frankly, if he elects to stay in Tampa. I still see him playing for another team if the Bolts cannot consistently be Cup contenders every year! He's too talented to want to be in & out of the playoff picture. I know he would rather have consistent playoff runs year after year like the Wings. GOOOOOOOOOOO BOOOOOOOLTS!!!!!!!!!!

 

[I_Shall_Return]

Oh yea, I almost forgot to comment on Danny's perspective about Bishop & the money crunch he will be expecting. This will only be an issue if & only if Bishop can stay healthy. No offense to any of my friends here online but he has been a bit Crosby-like & in my own opinion would not be worth a longtime big money contract if he's injury prone. What good is any player if their team cannot consistently count on their talents? I love Crosby's talent but is he worth what he makes? In my opinion, not at all. He goes down more than a French hooker!