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Striking again: Tampa sends Thompson to Ducks for picks

Boston Bruins v Tampa Bay Lightning

TAMPA, FL - MARCH 8: Nate Thompson #44 of the Tampa Bay Lightning skates during an NHL game at Tampa Bay Times Forum on March 8, 2014 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Scott Iskowitz/Getty Images)

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Tampa Bay Lightning GM Steve Yzerman certainly did make Sunday a night to rest.

The Bolts added yet another trade to the mix tonight, as they sent forward Nate Thompson to Anaheim for the Ducks’ fourth and seventh-round picks in 2015.

Here’s a quick rundown of how different the Lightning look after today’s dealings:

No longer with the Lightning:

Thompson (now in Anaheim)
Sam Gagner (briefly in Tampa Bay, now in Arizona)
B.J. Crombeen (also in Arizona)
Ted Purcell (went to Edmonton in the trade that briefly made Gagner a member of the Lightning)

Lightning retain:

$1.6 million of Gagner’s salary

The Lightning receive the following picks:

Anaheim’s selections in the fourth and seventh-round
The Coyotes’ sixth-round pick

Tampa Bay receives cap relief:

When all the smoke clears, Cap Geek estimates that the Lightning end up with a little bit less than $8 million of cap space. They also bulked up on later-round picks, obviously.
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So, the Lightning parted ways with Nate “Boucher” Thompson, whose apple-of-Guy-Boucher’s-eye status probably doesn’t mean a whole lot to relatively new Tampa Bay head coach Jon Cooper.

It’s plausible that the Lightning merely believe that their impressive set of young forwards will make the difference in all these personnel moves. Still, the far more interesting question is: which player(s) might the Lightning be targeting with this extra cap space?

It could be as fun to find out as it was strange to observe Sunday’s stream of events.

Follow James O’Brien @cyclelikesedins