NHL Waivers: Lightning Claim Copley As 22 Players Hit The Wire On Oct. 2
The Tampa Bay Lightning claimed goaltender Pheonix Copley off NHL waivers on Thursday, the team announced.
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other team in Florida, the Battle of Florida with Tampa Bay, and of course they've gone head to head so many times, with Florida getting the best of Tampa the last few, you know, few go-arounds.
Um, so what are we thinking in terms of Tampa this year?
How long, I guess maybe do we see this team with some of their guys getting a little bit older, remaining a contender, and what do their chances now look like with what's happening to the Panthers, Ryan?
I think the Lightning must be kind of licking their chops after the Barkov news.
Uh, you know, I know that they were already, uh, very motivated again, you know, in Las Vegas, Victor Hedman was there and he's like, they're not winning 3 in a row.
Like he was like, you know, he was not happy about how Tampa's seasons have been ending recently.
Uh, he wants to get back on top and, you know, you know, Mike, you talked about, you know, the, the stars Tampa has.
I mean, Tampa.
Kucherov, Point, Hedman, Vasilevskiy and Nett, and these guys are all a lot more rested than they had been when they went to 3 straight Stanley Cup Finals.
Um, and then you look at some of the injuries that they had late last year, you know, they thought they were gonna have Bjorkstrand and Jani Gordon in the lineup.
Um, those were kind of the big, you know, additions at the deadline, um, and it didn't end up helping them.
So I do think that there's a lane here for Tampa Bay.
Uh, to make, I would, I don't want to say one more run because Brandon Hagel is not that old, Anthony Cirelli is not that old, but this feels like a golden opportunity for the Lightning.
It's funny.
They seem like such an old team, right, just because they, they went to the final like 3 straight years, and it's basically been the same team year in and year out.
But Vasilevskiy is only 31 years old, like, yeah, he's a goaltender.
That's not old, really.
Um, I know Hedman is 34.
Yeah, I guess the old guys are really on defense, like Hedman, McDonagh is kind of old, but even then, like, defensemen age differently than forwards do, so.
Uh, I'm kind of with you.
I think the Lightning have a lot to prove to themselves this year.
I think they're going in with sort of that chip on their shoulder saying, all right, don't forget about us.
You know, Florida has now gone to the finals three straight years.
People are talking about them as a potential dynasty team.
Wait a sec, we were that team not that long ago, and, you know, Kucherov won the Art Ross back to back years, like.
This guy is just money in the bank for finishing top three and scoring.
So I actually think that maybe, if I'm gonna rank the Atlantic, I would go Tampa, then Toronto.
That's how high I am on the Lightning.
Yeah, I would agree at this point.
Not to mention that they did shed some of the age they had from those cup runs by letting Stamkos walk and bringing in Jay Genzel, who's the name we haven't even talked about.
He's done an excellent job fitting in with them as well.
So again, with what's happening in Florida, it certainly has me leaning towards, OK, maybe this is what you said, Ryan, that really golden opportunity for Tampa to get back in the mix more than they have been able to because of the Florida Panthers being the juggernaut that they were.
