Faceoff Factor

Tampa Bay & Ottawa Work Out Meszaros Trade

Matt Bodenschatz | National Hockey League

Aug 29, 07:21 PM | Hype this story!

Just minutes ago, I reported an update to the Andrej Meszaros offer sheet rumor stating that Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ray Shero was not going to get involved.

As a result, the Tampa Bay Lightning, lacking their third round pick, were unable to sign Meszaros to an offer sheet, leaving team officials to work on alternative measures.

TSN is reporting that those alternative measures have resulted in a trade.

The report reads:

“The Ottawa Senators have traded defenceman Andrej Meszaros to the Tampa Bay Lightning for defencemen Filip Kuba, Alexandre Picard and a first round pick (previously acquired from San Jose).

“Meszaros, 22, had 36 points and a plus-5 rating in 82 games for the Senators in 2007-2008, but has been locked in a contract dispute as a restricted free agent.”

It would seem that Ottawa makes out in this deal, as they add two NHL-caliber defensemen to a weak defensive corps and also get a first round draft pick.

Tampa Bay, on the other hand, gets a young, promising defenseman who most teams would love to have. The issue, however, is that Tampa Bay already was thin at defense, yet traded two defenders for one. And, with Kuba gone, Meszaros, who has three years of NHL experience, very well may be the most experienced player on the Lightning’s blueline.

If, as originally reported, Tampa Bay signs Meszaros to a $5+ million contract, one has to wonder what management is thinking. Dan Boyle and Brad Richards recently were traded away because of large contracts, but this summer, the Lightning have spent money frivolously, foreshadowing salary cap issues in the near future.