Tampa Bay - How will they fare this year?

Like most fans, I couldn't ignore the incredible amount of movement TB made this off-season. Signings galore, incumbent coach out, new one brought in, a plethora of forwards and their #1 D man shipped out... WOW! What a whirlwind, not to mention new BIG $$ owners taking the helm as well. I've heard of cleaning house or revamping, but jebus...

Now, one cannot deny that TB looks AWFULLY powerful up front, with their stallwart in Lecavalier and his little powerhouse partner, Martin "Minnie Mouse" St. Louis, as well as the additions of Malone, Roberts, Recchi, Vrbata et al, they look incredibly stacked! However, their D is another story.

With the departure of Boyle, and the recent trade that saw them net a young PMD man Mezaros, the rest of their D core looks questionable at best in my view. As an attacking forward, the only D man who may stir them or downright HIT them is O'Brien. I think they have a lot of work to do to shore up their D and with Kolzig and Smith, their goaltending is perhaps mediocre at best.

And finally, couple that with the new schedule, I think although Tampa are flying high on forwards, I think they could struggle early on.

I think Tampa will struggle in their own end this season but, give them a couple seasons and there D should be just fine. I see Carle, Meszaros and Ranger all being solid top 3 D men by 2010.

Oh I agree. Give them a few years and they will be super-scary, or at least potentially.

However, the addition of that Tony Robbins-a-holic fella, Barry Melrose, I think is a TERRIBLE mistake. I can't picture a bunch of grown men, all blood and no glory responding to pep talks that focus on their feelings and why they feel the way they do?! But hey, that's just me!

In what stratosphere do you trade Boyle, then give up the same style package as you just got - for Meszaros?

It was evident before - and it's evident now. These guys have no idea what they're doing. They're playing Fantasy GM with real player.

Duck and cover, the poop could be flying around for a couple of years.

504Heater wrote:In what stratosphere do you trade Boyle, then give up the same style package as you just got - for Meszaros?

It was evident before - and it's evident now. These guys have no idea what they're doing. They're playing Fantasy GM with real player.

Duck and cover, the poop could be flying around for a couple of years.

Agreed. This team is headed for enormous cap woes very soon. They handed out way too much money too quickly, and too irresponsibly. They have nothing resembling an internal cap, which helps you manage player expectations, and so they're not going to be able to manage player demands when they start hitting RFA / UFA. They overpaid for Malone, Prospal, and Vrbata -- all deals they will regret in the long run, especially the last two -- and have put themselves in a tough spot to deal with guys like Halpern, O'Brien, Ranger, and later Smith.

This team is headed somewhere. But with Kolzig and Smith in nets, where that somewhere is is unknown.

watching TB trounce the NYR (with Redden) was a joy. They were losing 2-1 at one point and won 4-2. They will win the s/e I think.

The Southeast is a sad state of affairs.
Washington has the biggest question mark ever since that Batman movie where the Riddler builds that giant question mark to take over everyone's minds.
Carolina seems to have some rule where they have to be carrying at least 2 injured players. Usually 4.
Florida might not score any goals this year. Literally, there is a decent chance they get shutout every game this year.
Tampa Bay has a bunch of guys who haven't played with each other before, a defensive corps made up of promising young blueliners who were anything but good last year. They also plan on playing with 6 forwards on the ice this year, in lieu of a goalie.
And then there's Atlanta. Its honestly so easy to make fun of this team, that it makes me feel bad.