Report card grades for all 31 NHL teams at the trade deadline

Tampa Bay Lightning: A

Steve Yzerman and the Tampa Bay Lightning know that this is their year to take a run at the Stanley Cup. Their offense is flying, led by Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov, and Andrei Vasilevskiy has played great in net. If Tampa Bay had any holes in its team it was on the left side of the blue line. Victor Hedman has been their best defenseman and Mikhail Sergachev has been a great addition for Tampa Bay, but one piece was missing. Tampa Bay was heavily linked to Erik Karlsson leading up to the deadline, but with the price too high, the Lightning walked away.

Luckily, the New York Rangers were selling one of their best defensemen, as well. Ryan McDonagh will be joining the Lightning to help shore up their defense. J.T. Miller was also acquired in part of the deal. He is a physical player who can use his size to wear down opponents and create offense. Miller has picked up 40 points so far this season and will be an important player once the playoffs begin.

The good news for Steve Yzerman is he has kept his NHL roster intact. Namestnikov was the only roster player traded away from Tampa Bay and he will be replaced perfectly with J.T. Miller. The rest of the trade was picks and prospects which will not affect the Lightning’s cup run this season. Smart asset management and the ability to fill a need with a good player like McDonagh earns the Lightning an A this year.