Tampa Bay Lightning NHL 17 Dynasty


General Manager: Jo Loonstra

Game: EA Sports NHL 17 (PS4)
Roster: Updated roster (november)
Tuner: Latest version
Difficulty Level: Pro
Slider: 4/4 Full Sim > tuned by Al Tito / OBG and adjusted to my level
Trade difficulty: Hard
Firing GM: On
Period Lenght: 8 minutes
Salary Cap: On

(Note by author: I did not adjust the roster. No players inserted, because of the freeze problems. I will try to play every game and give stats of these games. This will not be a realistic dynasty, but I try to keep it as realistic as possible. I struggled with my teamchoice. Montreal are my favorites, but I don't want to screw up my favorites. The Sabres, Jets and Maple Leafs are perfect rebuilders, but those teams do not rattle my cage. I will do a blow up of Tampa Bay and hope you will enjoy it. Forgive my bad english and lack of expertise of the NHL. I am still trying to get the hang of NHL17, so a lot of losing will happen. Enjoy!!

Can the Tampa Bay Lightning weather the storm?


The process of resigning superstar Steven Stamkos has had an impact on the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. The tension between players and boardroom staff started to get bigger when Drouin asked for his trade. When that issue was resolved, the story of resigning the best player in Tampa Bay, center Steven Stamkos, began. Rumours, strategic comments and sometimes slander were everyday business. Stamkos signed a lucrative deal with Tampa Bay and that straightened things out. But this period wasn’t the most cheerful time for the Lightning.

This weekend GM Ken Holland decided it was enough and he stepped down as General Manager at the Red Wings. His only job at the Red Wings will be Executive Vice President. The Red Wings approached Steve Yzerman and he did not hesitate. He wanted to be the Red Wings Gm for a while and his relationships with the Tampa Bay Lightning institute were impaired. He wanted out and got his dream job.

This left Tampa Bay with a void. But they did not falter either and got their man fast. They got an unknown businessman in the world of hockey, Jo Loonstra. This cunning businessman has to bring the Lightning to the next level. He appears to be a nice and loveable character, but don’t let appearances fool you. He is a tough competitor in world of hockey with a cunning way of doing business.

Rumours and “inside” information have taken the Tampa Bay Lightning in a stormy period again. The media are running wild and printing everything that comes to mind. Jon Cooper has been “fired” by everybody already. Players are being dealt and the Tampa Bay Lightning is a condemned team. Steven Stamkos has played his last season in 2016 and will be traded, so they say. Are the Tampa Bay Lightning and GM Jo Loonstra ready for impact? Can they overcome these rumours and what is the truth? GM Loonstra hasn’t made himself heard yet. His plans are still an blank portrait.

Q&A with General Manager Jo Loonstra.


Were you surprised to get this job?
I didn’t expected a call for this job. It all went very fast, but this is a great opportunity. I hope it will stay great.

There are many rumours. Will Jon Cooper stay?
We had a long conversation and he did very well the last few years. I believe he can do great things and is a great coach. He will stay. There was no doubt that he would have to go.

Will there be player changes and will Stamkos be traded?
There are no guarantees in this line of business. Players can be traded at any point. The only thing I can say, is that at this moment there are no trades done. Every player that has a contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning will have a shot at the line-up. Steven Stamkos is our captain and a great player. There has to be tremendous offer from another franchise, before I would consider a trade with our superstar. Two 3-round future picks and a bag of potatoes won’t seal a deal. Steven is scheduled to come here for training camp.

Are you willing to give up a good player to get what you want?
If the return is great, I think I will. Maybe a player wants to be traded to antoher team and we get a good return. I guess that’s my job.

Are you settling in with the Tampa Bay Lightning?
It’s going great. The transition from Europe has been smooth. No problem.

Loonstra makes tough decisions

A week before the beginning of the season, Loonstra had a busy day. A press conference was prepared and the media was there in big numbers. They sensed a sensation was in the air. Loonstra stepped on the platform and addressed the media:
“Good day to you all. I had a very interesting and busy day yesterday. First I will announce the deals we have made with other teams. After that you can ask questions. We made 3 trades yesterday that will affect this franchise now and in the future.

First I want to announce that we traded left wing Jonne Tammela to the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2017 – 3rd round pick (CHI) and a 2017 – 4th round pick (CAR).

A second trade was made. This trade consist of sending captain and center Steven Stamkos to the Ottawa Senators for the 2016 11th draft pick center Logan Brown, a 2017 – 1st and 3rd round pick (OTT), a 2018 – 1st round pick (OTT) and 2019 – 3rd round pick (OTT).

A third trade was made at midnight. In this trade we send right wing Ryan Callahan and a 2017 – 5th, 6th and 7th pick (TBL) to the Arizona Coyotes for center Pavel Datsyuk.

This morning we were able to sing right wing Alexander Semin to a 1 year deal.

I guess you want to let things sink in. I will elaborate on these trades and the signing. .......(to be continued)

Dissecting the Tampa Bay September trades.

After the devastating announcements by GM Loonstra at the press conference 2 days ago, everybody was in bit of a shock. The Tampa Bay Lightning were changed in these trades. Steven Stamkos, Ryan Callahan and Pavel Datsyuk did not speak to then media yet and the other GM’s did not tell the whole tale. Everybody had something to say about this, but no real knowledge of the trades. We called the Dutchman Loonstra and asked for an exclusive interview. He accepted our invitation. We will sum up this conversation. We asked Loonstra what triggered these trades. This led to the following answers.

Loonstra: “The Tampa Bay Lightning was an unhappy organization. Some things occurred the past season and summer that were not yet processed. Then Steve Yzerman left for the Detroit position and I got appointed, some guys were unsettled by this transition. Steven Stamkos was one of those guys. He talked to me and wanted out. This was not what he signed up for. I knew he would not stay here and I started calling every team. I wrote down all of my options.

First I had to make some room for players, if there would be a trade including more than 1 player. Tammela was an asset we could miss and could generate a good return. Carolina was my main target. I am guessing they will not make it to the playoffs and will have a good draft position. So their picks will be valuable later on. I could get a 3rd and 4th round pick in 2017. So I made some room and got 2 decent picks in return.

I already said that I had talked with every team in the NHL. Everybody was interested, but some are more interested than others. Some teams do not have anything to offer and some teams do not have room. In September your trading options are limited. But I had an open mind and told Steven the same thing. He wanted out and gave me a list of favourites. At the end of the day we went over all opportunities and we decided. The Senators were not the obvious choice, but they had the best offer for me and Stamkos agreed eventually.

I did have talks with Toronto. They had room for him and wanted him, but did not give enough to make the trade. I wanted at least two 1st round picks and a good prospect or veteran. They could not give that to me. I talked with Montreal, but they were not able to make enough room on their salary budget. The same thing for Washington, St. Louis, Detroit and others. We wanted McDavid, but Edmonton would not, and I don’t blame them, give him up. The closest we came to a deal was with Minnesota. We got the 2 first rounders and a very good veteran center (Koivu ed.), but the deal of the many early picks and a great prospect were to lucrative to pass on. Stamkos had to process going to Ottawa and not Toronto or Montreal for instance.

Another unhappy player was Ryan Callahan. He did not directly ask for a trade, but called me and was very saddened about the transition. I made up my mind and decided he had to go. He is a big presence in the locker room, especially with Stamkos out. I talked with Arizona already about Stamkos and we knew they wanted the big contract of Callahan. They had the big contract of Datsyuk, but no player. With Callahan you have the player and the big contract. Our problem would be to convince Datsyuk to come and play for us. My contacts with Sergei Fedorov, who is a GM in Russia, were important here. He and I convinced Datsyuk to try this Tampa Bay Lightning gig for one season. We lost a great center, but regained one in Datsyuk.

We were already scouting the free agent market and now we needed a right wing. Alexander Semin is a difficult choice. But with the acquisition of Datsyuk, he might like it here. We hope we get him interested and competitive for our franchise. This is what happened in this short period. It was a hectic period for everybody. Now it is time to move on.”