Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
The Tampa Bay Lightning’s Bloggers Roundtable is back. Each week a collection of independent writers from around Bolts Nation is given the opportunity to respond to a question posed by the good people in the organization.
This week’s question explores the realm of untouchable players. I’ve included my response below; you can check out the other responses right here!
This week's topic: Which Lightning players would you consider untradable? Why do you view these players as the building blocks of the future over others?Untradable, to me, is a dangerous word. To say that someone is untradable is to say that I wouldn’t move that player under any circumstances. The fan in me has emotional attachment to various players, but the objective blogger in me is willing trade anyone if the right deal (i.e. a deal that would make Tampa better) came along. As a result, my list of untradable players is very, very short.
Steven Stamkos (who the question already includes), Victor Hedman, and Jonathan Drouin are the only players I wouldn’t move. You’ll note that all three are young, and that all three play different positions. Stamkos is a centerman. Hedman is a defenseman. Drouin is a winger. Moreover, all three are elite, potentially generational talents. That can’t be replaced.
Noticeably absent from my list are guys like Andrei Vasilevskiy, Ondrej Palat, Valtteri Filppula, and Tyler Johnson, among others. It’s not that I don’t value these players; the opposite is true. Rather, it’s that I would be comfortable moving them if it meant making the Lightning better in both the long and short term. My brain tells me that it’s not possible to deal a Stamkos, deal a Hedman, or deal a Drouin and come out on top.
Untradable is a funny word. If Wayne Gretzky can be traded, just about anyone can be traded.
Many thanks to the Lightning organization for bringing this feature back to their website. And, as always, thank you 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.