Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman expresses patience going into offseason -NHL Update
With the free agency less than a month away, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager, Steve Yzerman, is not rushing himself in the process of seeking out the talented players from the pool of unrestricted free agents.
Instead, the GM is staying it slow and steady in order to find the perfect candidate that will a long-term success on the team instead of having a big name player for a year or two.
It was the case with speculations arising that Yzerman was looking to grab Roberto Luongo from Vancouver Canucks but looking at the goalie’s mammoth contract, the Tampa Bay GM had second thoughts. According to Yzerman, he could instead go for a couple of
younger goalies along with some forwards and defenders instead of settling down for one.
Not only that, Steve Yzerman is not a fan of using offer sheets to attract the interests of players with using money as bait but instead is looking for a fair deal.
"The only way a team doesn't match the offer is if you grossly overpay the player," the GM said. "That's why I don't like it. If you do a contract for the right value of a player, chances are the other team is just going to match it."
Not making decisions in haste is something Yzerman has learnt to do over these past few seasons he has been the general manager and doing something that seems illogical to him would just not work out for the long run.
"At the end of the day we're all competitive," he added. "We're all trying to put the best team on the ice within the rules of the CBA. The biggest issue, in my opinion, is in order to get the player, you have to overpay.”
The Tampa Bay Lightning might not have had one of their best seasons as they failed to make the playoffs a year after they nearly went to the Stanley Cup Finals. One of the biggest issues was the lack of goaltending depth and it is a well known fact that
Yzerman is looking for the best he can find.
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