Two games in, Tampa Bay is already reshaping its defense

The ramifications of Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Shane O'Brien's hair-trigger benching by Coach Barry Melrose have come to pass: He and recently demoted winger Michel Ouellet were traded to the Vancouver Canucks for defenseman Lukas Krajicek and minor league winger Juraj Simek. With a cap hit of $1.25 million, Ouellet was a spare part Tampa was eager to deal. O'Brien has a $950,000 hit, and Krajicek's is $1.1 million. After giving up four goals on 80 shots in two losses to the New York Rangers, have we seen our first panic move from the Lightning? Matt Carle, Jamie Heward, Mike Lundin, Andrej Meszaros, Vladmir Mihalik and Janne Niskala were the starting defensemen in the second game of the season. Adding a veteran like Krajicek upgrades one of the team's pairings. He's a veteran at 25, and can give the team more than the... [read full story]