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Bolts' Fate Hangs In Balance Today

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By ERIK ERLENDSSON, The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 25, 2008

Updated: 02/25/2008 06:00 am

BRANDON - The fate of a franchise will be determined today.

Though the NHL trade deadline doesn't strike until Tuesday at 3 p.m., what direction the Lightning take will be hammered out today when prospective owner Oren Koules and some members of his group come to town to meet with Lightning general manager Jay Feaster, coach John Tortorella and player personnel director Bill Barber to discuss all things related to the state of the hockey team.

Even though Koules does not officially own the team, he is the one calling the shots. Current ownership in Detroit has, for all intents and purposes, handed over the reins when it comes to decisions surrounding the team.

Anybody else getting that ol' Maloof feeling? You remember the Maloof family, right? The would-be owners of the team who sat at the draft table in 1997 and were calling all the shots on hockey operations decisions before the deal fell apart a month later and the Maloofs walked away?

Now, I don't think that's necessarily the case here since a purchase agreement is in place. Koules has the deal in his back pocket; it may be just a matter of time before he has it in his wallet. But without a secured loan to finance the remaining $100 million or so balance of the sale price, the deal easily could fall apart, leaving the current ownership group with a mess to clean up. That kind of upheaval could kill a fan base and derail the progress that has been made in the past eight years.

Consider the situations of D Dan Boyle, who is a pending free agent, and C Brad Richards, who is on the verge of being asked to waive his no-trade clause. With their fate in the hands of Koules and his partners with OK Hockey, the deal better go through.

Word is that Boyle and his agent, George Bazos, have all but agreed on the terms of a potential deal for six years worth $40 million - a deal well below what he could likely get in the free-agent market - and now it's up to Koules to either accept or reject the deal.

Through the whole sale process, Koules has remained quiet. He hasn't spoken publicly - other than through a couple of prepared statements - on the sale since opening night in October when he was still part of the bid that included Absolute Hockey. So we don't know what he has in mind now or what direction he thinks the franchise should take.

As a former minor pro player, Koules has contacts in the game, including agents. Word is that a former NHL player is part of his ownership group. But word is that this is not being looked at from a hockey standpoint, but from a business point of view. And the rumors of a $42 million payroll next season make it sound too high.

Make no mistake: Today is a very important day for the franchise.

And that's not to say that important decisions - such as having to trade Richards in order to free up some salary to find a goaltender - weren't going to have to be made no matter who is calling the shots.

But now is not the time to make that call, not when the ownership situation is in flux. Not when the sharks are circling in the water looking to lowball a team in a desperate situation. Knee-jerk reactions don't often turn out for the better.

If these decisions are to be made, the summer might be best suited. If the incoming owners are worried only about the bottom line, well, players don't get paid until the start of the regular season, so any salary on the books today doesn't get paid until well into tomorrow.

And don't think for a minute that decisions made in the next two days won't have a bearing on the roster three years from now. You don't think Marty St. Louis would look around a locker room that no longer has Richards or Boyle and want out? You don't think that Vinny Lecavalier might glance at the locker stalls when his contract is up at the end of next season and decide that Tampa no longer is the place for him?

Keep your fingers crossed today if you are a fan of the Lightning because after today, the puck could really hit the fan if the meeting doesn't go well.

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

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