2010 Lightning Unsigned Free Agents

PLAYER NAME Type Age POS
Mark Parrish UFA 33 Right Wing
Stephane Veilleux UFA 28 Left Wing
Paul Ranger RFA 25 Defense

2010 Lightning Free Agent Signings

PLAYER NAME Age P LENGTH CAP NO.
Martin St. Louis 35 R 4 years $5,625,000
Pavel Kubina 33 D 2 years $3,850,000
Steve Downie 23 R 2 years $1,850,000
Dan Ellis 30 G 2 years $1,500,000
Brett Clark 33 D 2 years $1,500,000

2010 Lightning NHL Entry Draft

RND PICK PLAYER NAME POS HT WT
1 6 Brett Connolly R 6.02 191
3 63 Brock Beukeboom D 6.01 200
3 66 Radko Gudas D 6.00 202
3 72 Adam Janosik D 6.00 179
4 96 Geoffrey Schemitsch D 6.02 185

Lightning News

Bolts Sign Puck-moving Defenseman Randy Jones
08/25/2010 - 4:26pm

(Tampa Bay Lightning press release) The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed free agent defenseman Randy Jones to a one-year contract today, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced.

“Randy is a skilled defenseman, capable of playing in all situations on both the right and left side,” Yzerman said. “His addition gives us some needed depth on the blue line."

Jones, 6-foot-2, 200 pounds, has played in 265 career NHL games with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Los Angeles Kings. He has amassed 18 goals, three power-play goals, three game-winning goals and 90 points. Last season he played in 48 games with the Kings, recording five goals and 21 points. His five goals tied his career high and he ranked third among Los Angeles defenders in goals, assists and points.

Bolts Lock Up Steve Downie for Two More Years
08/25/2010 - 10:28am

TSN is reporting that the Tampa Bay Lightning have re-signed restricted free agent forward Steve Downie to a two-year, $3.7M contract. Last season, Downie had a break-out year tallying 22 goals and adding 24 assists playing mostly on a top line with Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis.

With the Downie signing, the Lightning have just Paul Ranger as the lone unsigned restricted free agent, but his status for returning to hockey after sitting out the 2009-10 season for personal reasons remains questionable. After the recent free agent signings of Dominic Moore and Sean Bergenheim, GM Steve Yzerman's next priority is expected to be getting Rocket Richard trophy winner Steven Stamkos to sign a contract extension. His entry-level contract expires at the end of the 2010-11 season.

Tampa Signs Sean Bergenheim
08/17/2010 - 5:27pm

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed free agent left wing Sean Bergenheim (BUHR-gehn-highm, SHAWN) to a one-year contract today, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced.

“We are happy to add Sean to the Lightning roster today,” Yzerman said. “He is a competitive left winger who is also a solid two-way player. We believe he is a good addition to our team.”

Bergenheim, 5-foot-10, 205 pounds, has registered 40 goals, 80 points and 195 penalty minutes in 246 career NHL games, all with the New York Islanders. He has reached double digits in goals and points in each of the last three seasons. In 2009-10, Bergenheim led the Islanders in game-winning goals with two and tied for eighth on the team with 133 shots on goal. His best offensive season came in 2008-09 when he recorded career-highs in goals with 15, the team’s third-highest total, and points with 24. He also ranked first on the Islanders in shorthanded goals with four and game-winning goals with five.

Traverse City Roster Surfaces
08/20/2010 - 1:40am

Updated: 8/19/2010

redwingscentral.com has posted the Lightning's Traverse City Prospects Tournament roster. The pre-training camp warm-up tourney is scheduled for September 11-15 in Traverse City, MI.

The roster includes 15 Lightning prospects and 7 free agent invitees. The roster features the goaltending tandem of Dustin Tokarski and Jaroslav Janus, as well as 2010 #6 overall pick Brett Connolly. Five other 2010 draftees, all defensemen, make up one of the tournament's youngest bluelines and includes Brock Beukeboom, Radko Gudas, Adam Janosik, Geoffrey Schemitsch, and Teigan Zahn. The only other backliner is '08 draftee Mark Barberio.

Joining Connolly up front will be '09 draftees Carter Ashton, Richard Panik, and Alex Hutchings along with returning pros Dana Tyrell, Mitch Fadden, and James Wright.

The roster sports seven free agent tryouts, all forwards, including three returnees from the July Prospect Camp in Tampa. Getting a second look will be Jonathan Lessard, Andrew Agozzino, and the hat-trick star of the Young Guns scrimmage Brandon Hynes. Tim Marks, currently under AHL contract with the Norfolk Admirals, gets his chance to continue on the path to be the organization's next Paul Szczechura. Matt Butcher joins the Bolts squad as a graduate of Northern Michigan University, a prolific scorer in the BCHL and an unsigned 2005 5th round pick of the Vancouver Canucks. The final two invitees include Marc-Olivier Vachon, a diminutive winger who was coached by Guy Boucher at Drummondville during the '08-'09 season, and Harvard graduate Doug Rogers. Rogers, an unsigned '06 draftee of the New York Islanders, played alongside Lightning prospect Alex Killorn for the last couple years for the Crimson.

Conspicuous in their absence from the TC roster are goaltender Michael Zador, and forwards Brendan O'Donnell, and James Mullin. Zador is expected to return to the nets for Oshawa (OHL) this coming season, while '10 draftees O'Donnell and Mullin are expecting to play for Penticton (BCHL) and Fargo (USHL), respectively.

This roster has been officially confirmed by the Tampa Bay Lightning organization.

Lightning Sign 2010 Pick Radko Gudas to Entry Level Deal
08/09/2010 - 11:02am

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed defenseman and 2010 draft pick Radko Gudas to a three-year, entry level contract today, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced. Gudas most recently participated in the Lightning’s 2010 Development Camp, held in Tampa July 10-14.

Gudas, 6-foot, 202 pounds, played in 65 games with the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League last season, recording seven goals and 37 points with a plus-45 rating. He led the team in plus/minus and penalty minutes with 151. Gudas also led all Everett defensemen in points and assists. He also skated in three playoff games with the Silvertips, recording two assists.

Bolts Ink Dominic Moore For Two Years
07/30/2010 - 2:26pm

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed free agent center Dominic Moore to a two-year contract today, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced.

“Dominic’s skating ability, strength on face-offs and versatility will be a great edition to our line up,” Yzerman said. “We’re pleased to welcome him to the organization.”

Moore, 6-foot, 196 pounds, has played in 374 career NHL games with the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Minnesota Wild, Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres, Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens. He has amassed 45 goals, nine power-play goals, three shorthanded goals, three game-winning goals, 128 points and 243 penalty minutes. Moore has also played in 23 career Stanley Cup Playoff games with New York and Montreal.

Lightning Add Everblades as ECHL Affiliate
07/29/2010 - 10:20am

(Tampa Bay Lightning press release) The Tampa Bay Lightning have entered into a one-year affiliation agreement with the Florida Everblades of the ECHL today, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced. Florida will serve as the Lightning’s primary ECHL affiliate starting with the 2010-11 season. Tampa Bay will provide the Everblades with players under both NHL and AHL contracts.

“We are very happy to welcome the Florida Everblades to the Lightning organization today,” Yzerman said. “The Everblades and their management have demonstrated a strong commitment to success by guiding their team to the playoffs in each of their 12 seasons in existence. That is exactly the type of winning environment we feel our players should develop in. Couple that with their proximity to Tampa and there really isn’t a better option for us. We look forward to our prospects and contracted players helping to bring the Kelly Cup to Southwest Florida.”

Bolts Re-sign Mihalik; Sign Two UFA Defensemen
07/29/2010 - 11:05am

(Tampa Bay Lightning press release) The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed defenseman Vladimir Mihalik (mih-HAHL-ihk) and signed free agent blue-liners Mathieu Roy (WAH) and Michael Vernace (vuhr-NAYS) to one-year, two-way contracts today, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced.

Mihalik, 6-foot-7, 244 pounds, played in 75 games with the Norfolk Admirals last season, recording two goals and 18 points. He ranked third among Admirals defensemen for points and was tied for fourth overall with a plus-6 rating. Mihalik also played in four games with Tampa Bay. Following the regular season he went on to represent his native Slovakia at the IIHF World Championships, where he recorded one goal in six games.

A native of Presov, Slovakia, Mihalik has played in 15 career NHL games, all with the Lightning. During his career he has notched three assists. He has also played in 204 career AHL games, all with Norfolk, recording five goals and 49 points with 193 penalty minutes.

Bolts Sign Pouliot; Hire Fleming as Assistant Coach
07/23/2010 - 4:48pm

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed center Marc-Antoine Pouliot (MAHRK ahn-TWAHN poo-L’YAHT) to a one-year, two-way contract, Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced today. Yzerman also named Wayne Fleming to the position of assistant coach today. Fleming brings more than 30 years of coaching experience, both internationally and at the NHL level, most recently with the Edmonton Oilers.

"We are pleased to make Marc-Antoine a member of the Lightning organization today," said Yzerman upon making the announcement. "He fits the mold for the type of person we want on our roster and we look forward to seeing what he can show us in training camp this fall. He will add depth at the forward position and has a great chance to become a contributor in Tampa Bay."

"Wayne is a well-known person in the world of hockey," Lightning Head Coach Guy Boucher said. "He has an extensive resume both in the NHL and internationally. Wayne brings new information, ideas and a wealth of professional and NHL experience. He is familiar with a number of our current players, having previously coached Lecavalier, St. Louis and others. I needed someone with experience as well as an open mind and he certainly fits that perfectly. I think he’s the perfect fit for our staff.

"Along with Daniel Lacroix and Martin Raymond, there are three key traits that these three gentlemen have in common. They care about people, they have tremendous enthusiasm and their work ethic is unsurpassed."

Lightning Name Lacroix and Raymond Assistant Coaches
07/20/2010 - 1:58pm

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have appointed Daniel Lacroix (lah-CWAH) and Martin Raymond (RAY-moh, mahr-TEHN) to the position of assistant coach today, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced. The pair served as assistant coaches under Lightning Head Coach Guy Boucher with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the American Hockey League last season, where they helped lead the team to 52 wins and 115 points, the second-best record in the AHL.

“Daniel and Raymond are two very smart and hard-working coaches,” Boucher said. ”They are an excellent compliment to me and are outstanding one-on-one coaches. I have total confidence in them and they know how I work, what I do, my philosophy and my values. Because they know me and the way I work we already have a head start in terms of chemistry.”