from the Tampa Bay Lightning,
The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired the rights to left wings Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts from Pittsburgh in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2009, owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie announced..
“We said earlier this week we would be aggressive in our pursuit of free agents in order to win and compete,” Koules said. “This trade today doesn’t guarantee anything, but we believe it gives us a leg up in our attempt to sign these two impact players.”
Update 2:05pm ET (alanah): Link above has been fixed (it was changed at the team’s website after publication). Info also available at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
added 2:35pm, via Lightning Strikes,
Roberts is 42 and had just three goals in 38 games last season while suffering from a broken leg and high ankle sprain. He has 434 goals in his career. he also wants to be closer to his family in Canada and is expected to want to sign with the Maple Leafs or Senators. But he has been a god leader throughout his career, so perhaps Melrose and owner Oren Koules can pursuade him to take a chance on the Lightning. And, in fact, Roberts had to waive a no-trade clause, so there might actually be some interest.
added 3:41pm, from Eric Duhatschek of the Globe and Mail,
On Saturday, when the Lightning announced that they’d paid a heavy price to acquire the free-agent rights to Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts for a weekend from the Pittsburgh Penguins, it was the new owner, Koules, quoted in the press release, not general manager Jay Feaster.
More and more, it looks as if Feaster is a lame duck, with the crazed, hands-on pair of owners seizing control of the Lightning’s hockey operations department.
more on the deal…
This is a surprise… TB would be much improved with Malone, as for Roberts, I guess a Leaf reunion isnt in the cards.
Posted by PuckHound61 on 06/28 at 02:31 PM