Lightning GM Julien BriseBois decided to take a gamble, and trade for breakout forward Blake Coleman from the Devils. BriseBois will insert Coleman onto a Lightning team that has won a franchise-record 11 straight games and currently trail the Boston Bruins by a single point for the Atlantic Division lead. To do this, BriseBois agreed to pay the hefty price of promising prospect and former 1^st round pick Nolan Foote, and Vancouver’s conditional 2020 1^st round pick. Nolan Foote comes from a hockey family, as his father, Adam Foote, played 20 seasons in the NHL, and his brother Cal was also a 1^st round pick by the Tampa Bay Lightning. In 27 games with Kelowna of the WHL, Nolan has 33 points.

Blake Coleman currently makes $1.8 million per year until the summer of 2021 and is 28 years of age. This season, he had 31 (5 shy of career-high) points in 57 games with the Devils, including 21 goals (1 shy of career-high). Coleman is coming off back to back 20 goal seasons in New Jersey, where he is averaging an extra minute and eighteen seconds of ice time compared to his career average as a result of his efforts. Statistically, Coleman’s career AB score is an underwhelming -2.67 AB score over the course of 3 years of data. His penalty taken/drawn ratio is also somewhat low at 19:12, however, his giveaway/takeaway ratio was the best on the team at 19:42. Coleman’s -2 +/- rating also wasn’t bad, as several players on the Devils are in the negative teens, and the leader only has a +4 rating.

The Vancouver 1^st round pick the Lightning dealt New Jersey is conditional depending on whether or not the Canucks qualify for the playoffs (which they currently have an 86% chance to do.) Should they fail to do so, however, the Devils will receive Vancouver’s 1^st round pick in 2021. Tampa Bay still has their own 1^st round pick, as well as extra 4^th and 6^th round pick from the Red Wings and Senators respectively. Fun but unrelated fact, the Lightning have 3 7^th round picks in the 2021 NHL draft as they have their own pick, Nashville’s, and New Jersey’s.

We honestly didn’t expect the Lightning to do much if anything this deadline season, however, we believe the addition of Coleman will certainly help this team, as he is a solid penalty killer, and is among the league leaders in shorthanded goals this season with 3. We don’t see the Lightning making any more significant trades in the next week up until Monday’s trade deadline, as they most likely wouldn’t want to tamper with a team who is currently playing incredibly well. More to come.