2008–09 Tampa Bay Lightning season

On June 3, it was announced that head coach John Tortorella would not return to the team despite having one year remaining on his contract.[1]

On June 18, 2008, the NHL Board of Governors approved the sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The sale of the Lightning was made to movie and television producer Oren Koules. The deal depended the closing of the financial deal of US$200 million to buy the team and lease the St. Pete Times Forum. Koules, 47, played in Medicine Hat and Calgary in the Western Hockey League (WHL) in the early 1980s. In more recent years, he achieved success with the Saw movie franchise and the television sitcom Two and a Half Men. Among his business partners in the Lightning deal is former NHL player Len Barrie.[2]

On June 24, the Lightning announced that Barry Melrose was hired as the team's new head coach. Melrose had not coached in the NHL since 1995 with the Los Angeles Kings. Since that time, he had served as an analyst for the ESPN networks.[3]

Goaltender Marc Denis' contract was bought-out by the Lightning on June 25, almost two years to the date after his acquisition from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Denis had one year remaining on his contract.[4]

The Lightning acquired the rights to left wingers Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2009.[5] Malone then agreed to a seven-year contract with the Lightning two days before he was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent.

The Lightning acquired the rights to right wing Brian Rolston from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2009 or 2010. Rolston would later sign with the New Jersey Devils.

The whirlwind 32 days of questionable moves by new ownership came to a head on July 4 when, despite coming off a recent contract extension, Dan Boyle was traded along with Brad Lukowich to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Matt Carle (who would be traded in early November), Ty Wishart, a first-round draft pick in 2009 (which was traded in August) and a fourth round draft pick in 2010. Boyle was pressured to waive his no-trade clause by Tampa Bay's ownership, who said they would otherwise place him on waivers where he would likely be claimed by the Atlanta Thrashers. Frustrated at interference in the team's hockey operations by owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules, seven days later, general manager Jay Feaster resigned, despite having three years remaining on his contract.[6] Indeed, Brian Lawton had already taken over the position, though not officially until October 2. John Tortorella would later go on to label the new owners as "cowboys" for these and other dubious moves,[7] a moniker that would stick with them.

On August 29, the Lightning acquired defenceman Andrej Meszaros from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for defenceman Filip Kuba, as well as Alexandre Picard, and a first-round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft (obtained in the Dan Boyle deal with the San Jose Sharks). The Lightning would go on to sign Meszaros to a six-year contract worth $24 million.

On September 18, the Lightning announced that their new team captain would be Vincent Lecavalier.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will be playing five pre-season games before opening the season against the New York Rangers on October 4 in Prague. Of special note, this is the first time that Tampa Bay will be opening the season outside of North America. This will also be the first time that the Lightning will play a pre-season game outside North America, playing Eisbären Berlin in Germany on September 28. It was announced later that the Lightning would also play against Slovan Bratislava of the Slovak Extraliga on September 30.

• Note: all times EST and bold games are home games.

The Lightning struggled on the penalty kill, finishing the regular season with the most power-play opportunities against (405) and the most power-play goals allowed (89).[8]

The Tampa Bay Lightning failed to qualify for the 2009 NHL playoffs.

Steven Stamkos was the first overall selection in 2008

Tampa Bay entered the NHL Draft Lottery with a 48.8% chance of winning the lottery after stumbling to a 31–42–9 record in the regular season. The Lightning finished last in the league just four years after winning their first Stanley Cup.[10]

Tampa Bay's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft[11] in Ottawa, Ontario.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	Nationality	Club Team
1	1	Steven Stamkos	(C)	Canada	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
4	117 (from San Jose)	James Wright	(C)	Canada	Vancouver Giants (WHL)
5	122	Dustin Tokarski	(G)	Canada	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
5	147 (from San Jose)	Kyle De Coste	(RW)	Canada	Brampton Battalion (OHL)
6	152	Mark Barberio	(D)	Canada	Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL)
6	160 (from Florida via Chicago)	Luke Witkowski	(D)	United States	Ohio Junior Blue Jackets (USHL)
7	182	Matias Sointu	(RW)	Finland	Ilves (Finland Jr.)
7	203 (from Anaheim)	David Carle	(D)	United States	Shattuck-Saint Mary's (USHS-MN)

Updated April 2, 2009.[12]

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
76		Evgeny Artyukhin	RW	L	37	2001	Moscow, Soviet Union
27		Brandon Bochenski	RW	R	38	2008	Blaine, Minnesota
34		Ryan Craig	C	L	39	2002	Abbotsford, British Columbia
18		Adam Hall	RW	R	40	2008	Kalamazoo, Michigan
11		Jeff Halpern (A)	C	R	44	2008	Potomac, Maryland
44		Martins Karsums	RW	R	34	2009	Riga, Soviet Union
33		David Koci	LW/D	L	39	2008	Prague, Czechoslovakia
2		Lukas Krajicek	D	L	37	2008	Prostějov, Czechoslovakia
55		Matt Lashoff	D	L	34	2009	East Greenbush, New York
4		Vincent Lecavalier (C)	C	L	40	1998	L'Île-Bizard, Quebec
22		Marek Malik	D	L	45	2008	Ostrava, Czechoslovakia
12		Ryan Malone	LW	L	41	2008	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
30		Mike McKenna	G	L	37	2008	St. Louis, Missouri
6		Josef Melichar	D	L	42	2009	České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia
14		Andrej Meszaros	D	L	35	2008	Považská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia
21		Cory Murphy	D	L	42	2009	Kanata, Ontario
50		Richard Petiot	D	L	38	2009	Daysland, Alberta
24		Matt Pettinger	LW	L	40	2008	Edmonton, Alberta
20		Vaclav Prospal	LW	L	45	2008	České Budějovice, Czechoslovakia
31		Karri Ramo	G	L	34	2004	Asikkala, Finland
54		Paul Ranger	D	L	36	2002	Whitby, Ontario
32		Matt Smaby	D	L	36	2003	Minneapolis, Minnesota
41		Mike Smith	G	L	38	2008	Kingston, Ontario
52		Radek Smolenak	LW	L	34	2005	Prague, Czechoslovakia
26		Martin St. Louis (A)	RW	L	45	2000	Laval, Quebec
91		Steven Stamkos	C	R	30	2008	Markham, Ontario
38		Paul Szczechura	C	R	35	2008	Brantford, Ontario
7		Noah Welch	D	L	38	2009	Brighton, Massachusetts

• 2008–09 NHL season