After signing defenseman Anton Stralman to one of the best free agent deals of the day, Lightning GM Steve Yzerman filled two more holes on the roster by inking goaltender Evgeni Nabokov and center Brian Boyle.
Nabokov, who last played with the New York Islanders, signed a one-year pact, while Boyle, formerly of the New York Rangers, got a three year contract.
As far as intangibles go, few are better than Brian Boyle. He’ll bring that element of grit, leadership, and size that the Bolts’ fourth line desperately needed thanks to the departure of Nate Thompson. In addition, he has the ability to chip in the odd goal or point. His possession numbers aren't great, but neither are his zone start numbers. He's a fourth line guy. Nothing more, nothing less.
On a cap friendly deal like this one, which carries a $2-million cap hit for the next three years, it’s hard not to like the Boyle signing. Compare that contract to some of the others dished out today, and it becomes painfully obvious that Steve Yzerman was a winner on this one.
While he did make it clear that he left New York looking for a bigger role, I’m not sure that he’ll be anything more than a fourth line guy for Tampa Bay. Even so, perhaps the allure of being part of something bigger, something special was enough to attract him to Florida.
Hockeybuzz’s 1IC really likes this signing:
Moving on, the Nabokov agreement is a low-risk one for Yzerman and the Lightning. In desperate need of a backup goaltender, the Bolts watched name after name fly off the board early in the day. They waited, and got their guy in Evgeni Nabokov. While he probably isn’t the goalie that he once was, there’s little doubt that he’s an upgrade on Anders Lindback.
Consider for a moment that Nabokov played 40 games in an Islanders jersey in front of a bad team this past season and still managed to post a 0.905 save percentage. It’s not great, but it’s an upgrade. If the Lightning can reduce that workload to a manageable 20-25 games and play sound defense in front of him, Nabokov could be a very nice fit.
With only one-year in term attached to the pact, Yzerman and the Lightning are essentially free to walk away after this season. The objective here is obviously to give Andrei Vasilevskiy and Kristers Gudlevskis playing time in the minors in 2014-15 and then see what happens moving forward. Goaltending depth is arguably at an all-time high in the Bolts organization
It’s worth noting that Yzerman has addressed all three needs and wants he had for his roster heading into July 1st. He improved Tampa’s blue line (drastically, I might add), snagged a stopgap backup goaltender, and added some veteran leadership and size to the bottom six. All in all, this opening day of free agency was a very friendly one to the Lightning.
As many independent media personalities have already said today, the Lightning could compete for the Eastern crown next season. It feels good to say that.
As always, thanks for reading.
Michael Stuart has been the Tampa Bay Lightning writer for HockeyBuzz since 2012. Visit his archive to read more or follow him on Twitter. 
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