For now, trade talk remains on hold

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO, Times Staff Writer
Published January 21, 2008

If the Lightning doesn't sustain a playoff push, General manager Jay Feaster said it is possible he will have to move some players out by the Feb. 26 trade deadline to lower payroll.
	[Dirk Shadd | Times (2006)]

General manager Jay Feaster is in a bind when it comes to making trades.

With Palace Sports & Entertainment negotiating the sale of the team to Hollywood producer Oren Koules, there can't be much motivation on ownership's part to make a move that would increase payroll.

And if the team doesn't sustain a playoff push, Feaster said it is possible he will have to move some players out by the Feb. 26 trade deadline to lower payroll.

"At some point, you have to be realistic," he said. "If toward the end of February, if we haven't made a dent in it and we're still on the outside looking in and it's an uphill climb, we have to make sure we don't lose assets and get nothing in return."

That was a reference to the team's potential unrestricted free agents, the most high profile being left wing Vinny Prospal and defenseman Dan Boyle.

Feaster stressed, "That is not in the plans as we talk today."

And with rejuvenating road wins over the Penguins and Senators that pushed Tampa Bay to seven points behind the Southeast-leading Hurricanes, considerations in that area are likely even further in the background.

Announcing consequences for a poor season is not a new message. In November, Feastersaid ownership could force him to make changes if the team didn't get it together by late December.

Intensified negotiations with Koules, whom Feaster has said wants the team, in part, because of its core players, seemed to get in the way of that timetable.

But Feaster said he is not spouting rhetorical motivation.

As he said he tells fellow GMs who ask if he will move any of his top players, "If we ever get to that point, we won't keep that news under a barrel."

MOVING ON: For now, Feaster said any moves will be to improve the team: "Certainly if we had a deal we thought would make a difference, we could go to current ownership and potential ownership and sell the idea and try to get it done."

But Feaster said the league-wide trading environment is difficult. Only 14 players in the league have been moved.

"It's clearly a money-in, money-out proposition," he said. "And it isn't about the cap. It's about budgets. It's also about parity. You don't have the separation that causes teams to deal."

ROAD/HOME: With four straight wins, Tampa Bay is no longer the NHL's worst road team. At 7-14-3, its 17 points entered Sunday tied with the Kings for 29th in the 30-team league, one point ahead of the Blue Jackets.

The Lightning plays its next five at home, where it is on a 1-7-1 streak and lost five straight.

STREAKIN': Goalie Johan Holmqvist, with consecutive shutouts, has not allowed a goal in 121 minutes, 29 seconds. ... Center Brad Richards has two goals in his past 16 games. ... Defenseman Filip Kuba has zero goals and one assist in his past 17 games.

ODDS AND ENDS: Boyle, who has played just four games because of two surgeries on his left wrist tendons, could be in the lineup this week. ... John Tortorella needs one game to tie Herb Brooks' record of 506 by a U.S.-born coach.

Damian Cristodero can be reached at cristodero@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 20, 2008, 19:49:27]