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New Start in Tampa

By Dave Semyck

New season staring in Tampa. There were a several changes made in the offseason to a team that finished near the bottom of the league. Some of those moves were to improve for this season, but some of those moves also had future implications. 

 

Quinn Hughes was moved to Seattle for Alex Pietangelo and Isac Lundestrom. Moving a young defenseman, that is a future star in the league wasn’t easy but getting back a veteran defenseman to pair with Bowen Byram and an equally young and potential star forward was a move that should help both with this season and the future. 

 

Rasmus Kupari was sent to Detroit for two first round picks in this year’s draft. Again, it was a tough call to move a young winger, but after not having first round picks in the past two drafts, it was important as the Lightning are trying to build a team to compete for years to come, to add more young talent to the farm. 

 

German Rubstov was sent to Philly for another first round pick in this past draft. 

 

Overall, 3 young players were sent out, coming back was a veteran defenseman, a young forward and 3 first round picks. All said it is felt these deals set Tampa up to be better positioned both now and in the future. Open a few spots on the roster also allowed opportunities for young players that would have been stuck on the farm if these moves were not made. This roster is set to compete for a playoff spot, is in good shape from a cap perspective both this season and for the future and also had 4 total first round picks in the draft to add pieces to the farm to help this team compete in the years to come. 

10/25/2022 - 305 words


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