By Jordan Long
The New York Rangers needed more cap space. They decided to buyout the remaining 2- years of defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk’s deal, saving the Rangers around $5.16 million. This allowed Shattenkirk to be a free agent. He wasn’t one long, agreeing to a 1-year, $1.75 million contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Shattenkirk is an offensive defenseman who is going to help Tampa Bay this upcoming season. He can play on full strength situations and the power play. On full strength, Shattenkirk sets up near the blue line. From there he uses his vision on the ice to find a teammate who is open for a shot to score goals. If they can’t score, Shattenkirk fires it from the blue line and those can be goals or rebound opportunities for Tampa Bay. He scored 1 goal and 19 assists on full strength.
On the power play, Shattenkirk keeps the puck in the zone when opponents try to shoot the puck out. Those will give Tampa Bay a chance to set-up the power play. A teammate will pass it back to him so he can use his one-timer to score. If those don’t go in, his teammates have the chance to put the puck in the net with rebounds. He produced 1 goal and 7 assists on the power play.
On defense Shattenkirk hits skaters coming into the defensive zone. These checks end their opportunity to score. He pokes the puck away and steals it. These help his team move the puck up the ice. These create rushes into the offensive zone. When teams have a chance to shoot the puck, he uses his body to block it.
The Tampa Bay Lightning are much improved team with this one move. Last season, they ended up as the best team in the NHL with a record of 62-16-4 for a total of 128 points. The 62 wins tied the 1996 Detroit Red Wings for single-season wins by a team in an NHL season. In the playoffs the success in the regular season didn’t carry over to the postseason. Tampa Bay didn’t even win a game and were swept by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Tampa Bay knew their defense was the reason they were disappointing in the playoffs. Adding Shattenkirk strengthens their defense in hopes they won’t be upset in the postseason again. They should be the favorites to win the Cup this year. Hopefully Shattenkirk is the missing piece for them to win the Cup for the 1st time since 2004. dlo
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