Boucher begins search for staff

Guy Boucher recently went on a weekend fishing trip with his son, a getaway planned months in advance of him being named Tampa Bay Lightning head coach.

Now, Boucher will cast his line into the NHL waters in search of a coaching staff.

The Lightning have received permission to speak to certain candidates to fill out Boucher's staff, but he said the process is just getting under way.

"I've got ideas and I'm eager now to start talking and getting down to business to find the right guys for the organization, but we certainly are not far into that process right now," Boucher said Friday while attending the NHL entry draft.

Boucher said he is looking to add three members to his staff, two to serve on the bench with him and one to watch from above. While current assistants under contract, Rick Wilson and goaltending coach Cap Raeder, will be part of the mix, Boucher indicated he wants to bring in people he knows, and more importantly know him.

"Everything is open to me," Boucher said. "I'm in a position where I need to bring in some guys that I trust, whether it's one or more guys that I know. ... I need guys that are going to complement me, for me that's more important than anything. I have to have guys that have a crazy work ethic, it's just as simple as that. A work ethic and enthusiasm are my No. 1 criteria, then the other things come into play.

"I'm extremely demanding, I can be annoying at it because I'm ferociously persistent in what I want, so I need people around me that can take it."

It's been speculated that Boucher wants to bring both his assistants from Hamilton, Daniel Lacroix and Martin Raymond, to join his staff in Tampa, but Boucher would not say if the Montreal Canadiens, Hamilton's parent team, are one of the teams Tampa Bay has contacted.

Contract talks

With the start of free agency looming Thursday, it appears unlikely Tampa Bay will retain any of the team's pending unrestricted free agents before the market opens.

GM Steve Yzerman said he has held discussions with the agents for both G Antero Niittymaki and D Kurtis Foster in recent weeks, but that nothing is in the works.

"For the time being, we'll get through the draft," Yzerman said. "I've got some other things going on here before I can make any commitments to anybody. So I've put that on hold for the time being and once we get through the draft, we'll see where we are with a couple of things next week before July 1 and figure out exactly what we want to present and what we can present and what we want to do."

In addition to speaking to the team's pending unrestricted players, Yzerman also has been in contact with the agent for Marty St. Louis in the hopes of re-signing the veteran winger to a contract extension before his current deal runs out after the upcoming season.

"Nothing new, we've had discussions," Yzerman said when asked if there was any update on the talks. "Both sides, we both would like to make a deal."

St. Louis said he was "encouraged" by the talks, but didn't want to say much other than he's hoping a deal can be worked out.

Day 2

Tampa Bay holds seven picks for today, but does not have a second-round pick, which was sent to Boston along with Mark Recchi in a deadline-day deal in 2009.

The Lightning have three picks in the third round (63rd, 66th and 72nd), two selections in the fourth (96th and 118th) along with a sixth (156th) and seventh (186th).

Erik Erlendsson