Bolts Report (Erlendsson)

The team has added five draftees to the roster for next week’s prospect camp to be held at the St. Pete Times Forum starting July 8.

Thos who have been added are:

D Victor Hedman (First round, second overall)

RW Carter Ashton…

This comes as a bit of a minor surprise, but Steven Stamkos was left off the list of invitees to Team Canada Olympic orientation camp, which will be held in Calgary August 24-27. Certainly, based on age, Stamkos is probably considered a longshot to even make the team but after…

It’s obviously been a long day tracking everything down today, jumping on conference calls, jumping into the car for press conferences, keeping an eye on web sites and keeping perspective on what today means.

On the signing of Mattias Ohlund, I have to say I like it. And if there…

Heard this story making its way through the air waives today about new Lightning defenseman Matt Walker, and don’t remember it from the postseason, but after watching this, you understand why Tampa Bay likes the toughness that Walker can bring to the ice.

I also spoke with Walker earlier and…

According to TSN, the Montreal Canadiens have traded Chris Higgins to the New York Rangers in exchange for All-Star center Scott Gomez. Nothing reported as of yet whether or not there is more involved, but does this impact the Lightning at all?

Well, not directly, of course, but…

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Malone has been named to USA Hockey’s Olympic Orientation camp today, USA Hockey announced.  The camp will be held August 17-19 at Seven Bridges Ice Arena in Woodridge, Illinois.

Malone, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, led the NHL in shooting percentage last season with…

The Lightning have extended qualifying offers to nine of the team’s 11 restricted free agents.

By extending the offers, the team retains negotiating rights and rights to match any offer sheet a player may receive as well as the right to compensation should the Lightning decline to match an offer…

Tampa Bay used its fourth round pick on C Alex Hutchings, a 5-foot-10, speedy forward from Barrie of the OHL. In two seaons with the Colts, Hutchings has 63 goals and 122 points in 131 games the past two seasons.

Profile of Hutchings here

Profile from

Tampa Bay has selected Slovakian winger Richard Panik
with the 52nd overall pick, their only second round selection after trading up with Detroit last night to gain an additional first round pick.

Panik is ranked 38th overall by TSN, 31st by The Hockey News, 35th by…

As expected (sort of), the Islanders have selected John Tavares with the No. 1 pick in the draft. Tampa Bay is on the clock, and you can almost guarantee that they will select Victor Hedman

As expected, the Lightning select Hedman with the second overall pick - 7:29 p.m.

Sorry for the lack of postings in the past couple of days, but just finished an 18-hour, two-day drive back from Northwest Ohio back home. I shouldn’t be this tired after that trek, but I think I’ll sleep until noon on Friday. Who knows, Vinny Lecavalier might be moved by…

While the long-term direction of the Lightning franchise may continue to be in flux, in the short term, everything is status quo.

Lightning co-owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie held a meeting with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman at the league offices in New York on Tuesday to determine who has…

The info below is from the team, which is opting to hold a prospect camp for fans instead of a draft party on Friday night for the first round of the draft. The camp, which will likely feature all of the picks from the 2009 draft class including the second…

The Lightning co-owners apparently can no longer co-exist.

Tampa Bay owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie flew to New York on Monday in preparation for a meeting with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to help resolve who has the final say in team-related decisions, a source close to the situation said.

While the Lightning prepare for next week’s draft, and they wait for the New York Islanders to make their selection, Lightning general manager Brian Lawton said on Friday that the search for an assistant coach has been put on hold for the time being.

“We have a couple of…

For anybody heading to Las Vegas for Thursday’s NHL awards show and think you might have an idea on next year’s playoff outcome, here are the early odds from http://www.bodog.com on who has the inside track to capture next year’s championship (you have to keep scrolling to find Tampa…

In this release from NBC, Game 7 ratings for the Pittsburgh victory against Detroit was a major hit for the network and the league, making it the most watched NHL game in 36 years:

NEW YORK - Friday night’s deciding Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final on NBC Sports…

Former Lightning Director of Fan Development David Cole, who was part of the employee purging last month, is hosting some youth hockey clinics this summer, the details of which are below:

David Cole Youth Hockey Camps set for July and August.

David Cole is well respected in the…

With the Stanley Cup series tied at two after each team held home ice, I thought I would share with everybody a story about a moment that happened to me and my family on Thursday night. It’s a rare thing in today’s society, what happened to us, and I’m not…

While the Lightning await word on whether associate coach Mike Sullivan intends to return to the team, the process of finding a potential new assistant coach is already in the beginning phases.

Sullivan has been granted permission by the team to pursue a head coaching position or another assistant…