The Tampa Bay Lightning accelerated the timeline of one of their more intriguing prospects. On Friday, they announced that they signed Benjamin Rautiainen to a three-year entry-level contract. The 20-year-old is now set to start next season in North America with either the Syracuse Crunch or the Tampa Bay Lightning. While this wasn’t entirely unexpected, the Lightning did have to buy out the final season of his contract with Tappara in order to facilitate the deal.
With the signing, Rauti...
Well, kids, we’re back. Thanks to some travel issues, it wasn’t quite the middle of nowhere experience we had hoped for, but we were still able to disconnect, enjoy a different city, eat too much food, and watch too much television. Now, that the brain has been refreshed a little, it’s time to get back into the swing of things.
It doesn’t appear we missed much when it comes to the Lightning. They signed Scott Sabourin to a one-year, two-way contract , which is nice. PuckPedia lists the te...
Ten years ago today, it was a coming out party of sorts for Bryan Rust with two big goals in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Penguins had rallied back from a 3-2 deficit in the series to send things back to Pittsburgh for a seventh game and […]
There is only one former Ohio State Buckeye left in the NHL Playoffs. Montreal goaltender Jakub Dobeš has played a major role in the Canadiens advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals after outlasting both the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres in seven game series in the first two rounds. Heading into the 2025-26 season, […]
Well, there will be no arbitration hearings this summer for the Tampa Bay Lightning (unless, of course, Julien BriseBois pulls off some sort of trade). The Bolts headed into the off-season with one restricted free agent that had arbitration rights, and on Tuesday, they agreed to a contract with that player. Max Groshev is now under contract for another two seasons as he agrees to a two-year, two-way deal with the Lightning.
Groshev was selected in the third round of the 2020 draft and has...
The Tampa Bay Lightning want to sign Darren Raddysh. After all, it’s always easier to predict the future with known commodities. Unfortunately, teams don’t always get what they want, especially in free agency. There are a lot of factors out of their control that can determine where the Bald Eagle decides to nest next season. So, if he does take flight in free agency, can the Lightning bring someone else in to help fill the hole? Maybe.
In fact, there could be a player that is pretty much ...
Manon Rheaume is a name that is forever etched in Tampa Bay Lightning history. On September 23, 1992 (back when the Tampa Tribune was just 25 cents) she appeared in a pre-season game for the Lightning against the St. Louis Blues, stopping seven of nine shots in one period of play. Her debut marked the first time a woman participated in one of the four major North American sports leagues.
Rheaume would appear in two games for the Atlanta Knights that season, posting a 0-1-1 record with a 6...
Ten years ago today, Sidney Crosby scored an overtime game winning goal in the Eastern Conference Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Pittsburgh had dropped the opening game of the Eastern Conference Final to Tampa and Game 2 was going to overtime with the Penguins at risk of falling behind 2-0 in the series. A […]
Montreal Canadiens news and notes
After missing their chance to eliminate the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games, the Canadiens are determined to take care of business tonight. [ La Presse ]
Joe Veleno knows the team played a great Game 6 last round at home, and just needs to have a slightly better effort tonight. [ TVA Sports ]
The players praised Jakub Dobeš for his ability to bounce back after a rough start in Game 5. [ TVA Sports ]
Martin St-Louis liked that Ivan Demido...
Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois is doing his best to lower the expectations of fans when it comes to a big free-agent splash. Honestly, based on the talent available, there is no reason for anyone’s expectations to be above mildly intrigued by this class. If all the Lightning do is re-sign Darren Raddysh, an argument can be made that they nabbed one of the top players available.
That’s not fun, though, right? The Lightning have some cash, well, cap space, and some nee...
Julien BriseBois’ could have one of the easiest summers of his tenure as Lightning general manager. Sure, he needs to find some depth scoring, make the team a little younger without sacrificing talent, and figure out what to do with Darren Raddysh and Nikita Kucherov, but at least he doesn’t have a lot of RFA’s to deal with. One additional task on his summer to-do list is decide if the Lightning are going to offer entry-level contracts to two of their recent draft picks.
The draft rights ...
Yesterday, we talked about Declan Carlile making the U.S. squad that is heading to the IIHF Men’s Ice Hockey World Championship, and today it’s J.J. Moser’s turn. The Lightning’s best defenseman this year will keep his season going as he will join Team Switzerland for the international tournament that will be played in Zurich and Fribourg. Team Canada also announced their roster , but there will be no Lightning players joining them (as of right now). So, for now, it’s just Moser and Carlile he...
Just over a week from now, international hockey ramps back up as the IIHF Men’s World Championship gets under way in Switzerland. Sixteen countries will compete for the gold, silver, and bronze in the yearly tournament that runs concurrent with the Stanley Cup playoffs. The timing of the tournament prevents it from being a true best-on-best competition, but it usually features a nice blend of NHL players whose teams have exited the postseason, prospects, and top European players.
With the...
Nashville Predators forward Steven Stamkos was a trade candidate leading up to this year's deadline, and it would not be surprising if this carried over to the summer. If the Predators do listen to offers on Stamkos, he would generate plenty of interest. Because of this, let's look at three teams that could target Stamkos this offseason. Tampa Bay Lightning Could the Lightning look to reunite with Stamkos this summer? After another short playoff run, the possibility should not be r...
The Tampa Bay Lightning had another short playoff run this year, as they fell to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round in seven games. With this, the Lightning should be aggressively looking to boost their roster during the summer. One area that the Lightning could look to improve is their middle six. Because of this, it would not be surprising if they tried to reunite with one of their former players: Blake Coleman. With the Calgary Flames in a rebuild, Coleman has been a popular name in ...
I have nothing but complete and total respect for Victor Hedman after he announced today that he had been out of the lineup while focusing on his mental health. When an athlete as heralded and celebrated as Hedman speaks about how he needed to step away from the game that has brought him his celebrity status, it might be time to take a longer look at how hockey and sports in general takes a mental toll on those who play the game. We saw Linus Ullmark speak of the struggles he went through earl...
With three podcast coming out in short order there is one article to cover all three. The first is a look back at the Tampa Bay Lightning series.
Mostly it focused on a low event hockey gamble from Jon Cooper. The bet was on Andrei Vasilevskiy besting Jakub Dobeš. In the end the goalies stole one game each, and Dobeš came on put on top.
Looking back on the picks the panel had a pretty good selection.
Jared’s Lane Hutson pick was great, the defender played out of his mind and one...
After just a handful shifts in Vancouver on March 19th, Victor Hedman left the eventual 6-2 Tampa Bay Lightning win. He would not return to the line-up for the rest of the season. On Tuesday, he spoke to the assembled media about his absence,
“Obviously, after the first period in Vancouver was kind of the final straw. It’s a thing that’s been going on for a long time, and try to work through it, and find ways to get around it, but I wasn’t able to do that. So, that’s where the decision ca...
The Tampa Bay Lightning were once again bounced in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and now general manager Julien BriseBois will be a very busy man this offseason. Multiple reports have surfaced that BriseBois tried to make some roster changes ahead of the trade deadline in March, but wasn't able to find a fit. Heading into the summer, look for BriseBois to make a move to add some talent down the middle of the ice for the Lightning. Elliotte Friedman: Re Lightning: I heard...there...
Corey Perry is entering the summer as a pending unrestricted free agent. If the 40-year-old forward hits the free-agent market this summer instead of re-signing with the Tampa Bay Lightning or retiring, he should generate interest. Due to this, let's look at three teams that could look to sign Perry during the offseason. Edmonton Oilers The Oilers missed Perry this season, and it would not be particularly surprising if they tried to bring him back during the summer. If they signed ...
Hello and good morning everyone. It’s Justin, your faithful managing editor of Raw Charge. For the fourth year in a row, we’ve come to this point a little too early in the spring. With the Lightning getting bounced from the first round of the playoffs yet again, we all face an off-season that starts in May instead of June. Which is a bummer. That means I have to come up with a few extra weeks of interesting posts to keep y’all interested and reading.
It was a good season for the website a...
After a monster season that saw him record 22 goals and 70 points in 73 games, Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh is set to land him a big payday this offseason. Due to this, let's look at three teams that could look to sign Raddysh if the Bolts do not re-sign him. Toronto Maple Leafs The Maple Leafs need another right-shot defenseman, so it would not be surprising if they looked to add Raddysh in free agency. He has already been connected to the Leafs in the past and wo...
It was a disappointing finish to the season for the Tampa Bay Lightning, a team many pundits around the sport predicted to come out of the Eastern Conference. Instead, a frustrating 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 7 of the first round (despite outshooting them 29-9) has left many questions facing the Bolts as they head into the offseason. Perhaps one question we didn't see coming, though, comes to us from insider Pierre LeBrun , who asks in The Athletic, if the Hart Trophy con...
The Tampa Bay Lightning are a meme.
Alex Newhook notched the go-ahead goal with 8:53 remaining in the third period, and the Montreal Canadiens eliminated the Tampa Bay Lightning with a 2-1 victory in Game 7 at Benchmark International Arena. Captain Nick Suzuki also scored for the upstart Canadiens, and goaltender Jakub Dobes stopped 28 shots. Dominic James lit the lamp for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made seven saves. Montreal will face the Buffalo Sabres starting on Wednesday.
Cale Makar scor...