Lightning place two defensemen on the trading block just days before the regular season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are looking to make some last minute changes prior to the start of the 2018 - 2019 National Hockey League regular season and it looks like two of their defensemen will be the bait.

On Saturday evening Tampa Bay Lightning insider Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times revealed that via his sources he has learned the Lightning are now open to moving either NHL veteran Braydon Coburn or 24 year old blue liner Slater Koekkoek. At this time it is not clear what kind of return the Lightning are seeking for either man, but given how little time there remains before the start of the season we may not have to wait long to learn the answer.

As for why the Lightning are attempting to make this deal, we may have some more insight into that. Smith reports that the performance of 21 year old Erik Cernak in training camp opened some eyes among those within the Lightning organization, and they now view him as a viable option on the blue line. As a result the Lightning feel they can shed either Coburn or Koekkoek, although the two men are at very different stages of their career and will come at very different costs.

In the case of the 33 year old Coburn, he will be considerably more difficult to deal. Not only is Coburn the older of the two men, by nearly a decade, but he also comes with a price tag of $3.7 million. The good news for the Lightning is that any trade involving Coburn would effectively be a rental and that may make it more likely that a team would be willing to take on that cap hit. 

There is one more problem with Coburn however and that is the trade protection afforded him by his contract. Coburn has a 16 team trade list, what effectively  mounts to a 15 team  no trade list, and that would give him considerable control about where he ends up. Coburn could potentially block a lot of options for the Lightning and that will make the task of trading him considerably more difficult.

Slater Koekkoek on the other hand comes in at just $865,000 per year and comes with some additional benefits as well. Like Coburn Koekkoek's contract will expire at the end of the season but in Koekkoek's case the team will retain control due to his status as a restricted free agent. Therefore, unlike Coburn, Koekkoek would not be a rental player and that will likely drive up the return for the Lightning. 

Given that the Lightning are looking to shed a player on the blue line it seems reasonable to speculate that they are either looking for either a forward or perhaps merely some future assets that they can use to replenish their prospect pool. The Lightning have made a number of significant trades over the past several seasons and replenishing their cupboard could be exactly what they need to continue competing for several seasons to come.

Based on the reaction to this announcement it sounds like if the Lightning fans had their way it would be Coburn getting traded and Koekkoek remaining with the Lightning.

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