I feel as though I should preface this article by saying that Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman is my all time favorite hockey player. His commitment to team, loyalty to the Detroit Red Wings franchise and determination as a player are characteristics that are few and far between in the sports world.
That said, Yzerman’s days at the head of the Lightning may be numbered, and it’s his fault. I’m not going to compare Yzerman to Wayne Gretzky and Michael Jordan with their collective failures as team administrators, but rare is the talented athlete and the equally savvy front office mind.
Yzerman looked pretty smart in his first season with Tampa. Every move seemed to pay off for the Lightning and they came within a game of the Stanley Cup Final. With essentially the same roster the Lightning suffered through a difficult season. Injuries and some shoddy goaltending ultimately cost Guy Boucher his job and the Lightning missed the playoffs. Before the shortened season, Yzerman took some gambles with Anders Lindback, Matt Carle and Sami Salo.
Lindback hardly impressed last season and certainly didn’t make a case to be the number one guy. Ben Bishop was brought in via trade and the two look to compete in the fall for the starting nod. The defense, namely goaltending, seemed to be the Achilles heel for one of the top scoring teams in the NHL. In my opinion, the Lightning missed a great opportunity to strengthen their defense by adding Ilya Bryzgalov to their goaltending collection.
The former Philadelphia Flyer keeper was shamed from the city of “Brotherly Love” with the NHL record (at the time) contract buyout with no discernable job opportunities on the horizon. Instead of swooping in on the 33-year old Russian,
Yzerman spent almost all of the amnesty money from departed captain Vincent Lecavalier on former Detroit Red Wing Valtteri Filppula. Filppula was a coveted free agent and Detroit will miss him, but $5 million per season for the next five years will make or break Yzerman’s career as GM in Tampa. Hopefully for the Lightning and Yzerman, Filppula is more productive than the nine goals he scored over 41 games this season.
The way I see it Tampa is no better today than they were when the season ended. They were forced to use a ton of young players from their AHL affiliate last season because of injuries, but who will step up for the defense? The goalie situation remains the same with Bishop and Lindback competing for the top spot.
Early in Steve Yzerman’s hockey career he was known for his ability to see the game better than almost anyone else. His anticipation and vision made him an elite player throughout his career. Hopefully that clairvoyance helps Yzerman in the next stages of his hockey career, because he must see something in the Tampa roster that I do not.
With the NHL realignment and changes in the playoff format, Tampa can’t look at their division and feel like they sit in the top four. Five of their new divisional opponents made the playoffs last year and each have improved their own rosters. With all of the offensive talent that Tampa has, not making the playoffs a third consecutive year could put Steve Yzerman on the free agent market for the first time in his hockey career.