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GMs To Talk Trades At Meetings

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 18, 2008

TAMPA - For all that the NHL fails to get right, you have to credit the league for a sense of timing.

Each of the 30 general managers in the league assembled in Naples on Sunday night and will kick off three days of meetings today. Officially, they will be broken up into groups to discuss issues on the ice and off it and present some ideas to the NHL competition committee.

But who are they kidding. These three days are really about getting the GMs together to discuss something much more important to fans of the game - trades.

When you get this many decision-makers together in an isolated environment, there will be plenty of chatter involving potential moves as teams try to add that piece or two to put them over the top before the Feb. 26 trade deadline. It is as good a time as any to lay the groundwork for what some GMs believe will be an active week on the transaction wire.

"Our job is to win," Anaheim GM Brian Burke said. "Get up in the morning, you're trying to figure out a way to win. And go to bed trying to figure out a way to win. If you can't you get canned. So I think you'll see a whole slew of deals."

Where do the Lightning fall into this?

Tampa Bay GM Jay Feaster has fielded plenty of phone calls and made his fair share, as well. But there are plenty of things muddling the Lightning's situation, from unresolved ownership, pending big-time potential free agents and the team's recent winning ways.

"It's a very difficult equation," he said before Saturday's setback to Washington. "There are a lot of moving parts on our end, none the least of which is our ownership situation. And that combined with how we are playing right now, and that's the biggest thing. The good news is that at least the team's play has put us in a position to where we have to think about how we are going to approach things as opposed to being so far out of it, it would have dictated a different resolve."

Feaster's feelings might be a bit different after the loss to Washington put Tampa Bay eight points out of the Southeast Division lead with 23 games remaining. If the Lightning were wavering between buyer and seller, perhaps the picture is a bit clearer now.

And maybe that's for the best. Caught in between is a dangerous area; it can cloud one's vision. A more direct understanding of the situation may be the best-case scenario, although with three more games before the deadline, there is still time for things to get muddled once again.

"I'd like to keep winning, that's what I would like to do," Feaster said. "We will continue to get answers. So it's about going down parallel paths in being prepared to be a buyer or a seller and see where we are."

With the prices teams are said to be willing to pay, some of Tampa Bay's pieces can be moved to bring back a significant return. And Feaster believes that some of the steep prices paid last year when Nashville acquired Peter Forsberg and when Detroit traded for Todd Bertuzzi will be in line with what will be offered up this time around.

"We talk about whether last year had a chilling effect on it in that there were some real steep prices paid and at the end of it only one team wins," Feaster said. "But I think the prices will be high again, and I say that because the calls that I've made and the calls that I've been getting, everybody is looking for the same thing. People are looking for top-six forwards and a defenseman who can play in their top four or five."

And Tampa Bay has some of both in Vinny Prospal, who has already set a career high with 27 goals and is on fire in recent games, along with Chris Gratton or possibly Jan Hlavac. Then there is Dan Boyle, who is the type of player teams might be willing to offer a king's ransom in order to acquire - assuming he isn't re-signed to a new contract before the deadline.

SPEAKING OF BOYLE: The clock is ticking on a decision regarding Boyle.

Talks have been ongoing with Boyle's agent, George Bazos, although nothing has been discussed publicly as Feaster likes to keep both sides of the negotiations out of the media.

But word is that the parameters of what the team might be willing to spend on Boyle have been held with ownership, both current and pending. What might factor into that, however, is potentially what incoming owner Oren Koules might be willing to spend on team payroll for next season.

If the sides can't come to an agreement on an extension, Boyle has to be traded because Tampa Bay can't afford to lose him to free agency for nothing. He has a no-trade clause, but all that means is he would have a choice of where he would end up. If the team came to him with a deal, word is Boyle would be willing to waive his no-trade clause.

If he is traded, however, there does remain a chance he could return to the Lightning this summer. Yet if he were to be traded, the team he ends up with most assuredly would discuss an extension with Boyle to try to lock him up to a long-term contract.

Reporter Erik Erlendsson can be reached at (813) 259-7835 or eerlendsson@tampatrib.com.

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