Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman has insisted that he’s not a fan of ‘renting’ at the trade deadline. His rationale isn’t unlike the rationale that many first-time homebuyers have when purchasing their first abode. In simple terms, it’s better to purchase an asset for the long-term, build equity in it, and hope it appreciates in value than it is to throw money (or, in this case, draft picks, prospects, etc.) at something without a claim to ownership.
The Lightning have done that with players like Steven Stamkos, Victor Hedman, Tyler Johnson, and Ondrej Palat, among others; they’ve invested time and resources into these players, developed them, and reaped the rewards. That’s nearly impossible to do with a rental player, who, unless re-signed, is typically only in town for a short, multi-month stretch.
With all that said, Yzerman can’t and shouldn’t be afraid to rent at this year’s trade deadline. In fact, I’d argue that he has an obligation to rent if no other opportunities present themselves.
Reverting back to that homebuyer analogy for a moment, consider a young family that owns a home and is looking to go on vacation. That young family doesn’t purchase a hotel room. That young family doesn’t purchase a car when it gets to the vacation destination. No, the family rents a hotel room for the week, and rents a car if necessary.
Now let’s relate that to the Lightning. The Lightning own their home. They have cornerstones like Stamkos, like Hedman, like Palat, like Johnson… the list goes on. There’s a solid foundation of ‘equity’ that defines the Lightning roster. Credit Steve Yzerman and his management team for building from the ground up, for doing things the right way. Now, with their ‘home’ built, the Lightning have the opportunity to consider going on vacation. And, by ‘vacation’ I mean a deep run into the spring.
In an Eastern Conference that is so wide open and so unpredictable, Yzerman has a responsibility to take a shot. Folks can talk all day long about this team being young or inexperienced or not quite ready, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that this is a very good team. The Lightning sit fourth in the league in five-on-five Corsi-for percentage, per Puckalytics; in the Eastern Conference, only the Detroit Red Wings are better. And, despite a recent slide, the group still sits sixth overall in the league standings. Whether you believe it or not, this Lightning team is a contender. The house is built. It’s time to rent a hotel room and go on vacation.
If shipping a draft pick, prospect, or combination of both away in exchange for a player like Jeff Petry or Zbynek Michalek or Andrej Sekera is the difference between flaming out in the first round and making it to the Eastern Conference Final, or even further, do you make that tradeoff? I do. The Lightning are for real this year, but the roster still has a few noticeable holes. The premise of this blog is basically that Yzerman should do everything he can to plug those holes, given the state of things in the East.
I wouldn’t be arguing for renting players if the Lightning were a middle of the road sort of team. That wouldn’t make sense. The reality, however, is that Tampa has one of the nicer houses on the block. This team can afford to go on vacation and still come back to that nice house when their trip is over. Dealing a draft pick or prospect won't hurt the foundation of this team. The Lightning family has some disposable income.
The Eastern Conference is so ready for the taking this season – But who knows what it will look like next year, or the year after that? It would be a shame if the Bolts passed up on what looks like a golden opportunity because of some ideological ‘anti-rent’ stance.
---
The Lightning are set to face the Colorado Avalanche tonight at Pepsi Center. This is the second of two meetings between the out-of-conference foes this year; the Lightning grabbed a 3-2 shootout victory at Amalie Arena back on January 17th. I’ll be back with a post-game recap later tonight or tomorrow.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter.