2009 Restricted Free Agents

The following players along with Lauri Tukonen were tendered qualifying offers on June 29th and their rights retained by the Lightning.

2009 Free Agent Signings

PLAYER NAME POS Years Avg/Yr
Lukas Krajicek Defense 1 year $1500000
Mattias Ohlund Defense 7 years $3750000
Matt Walker Defense 4 years $1700000

2009 Tampa Bay Lightning Draft

1 2 Victor Hedman Defense 6.06 220 lbs.
1 29 Carter Ashton Right Wing 6.03 205 lbs.
2 52 Richard Panik Right Wing 6.02 203 lbs.
4 93 Alex Hutchings Left Wing 5.10 173 lbs.
5 148 Michael Zador Goaltender 6.02 172 lbs.
6 162 Jaroslav Janus Goaltender 5.11 192 lbs.
7 183 Kirill Gotovets Defense 5.11 175 lbs.

Kvapil to Europe

After a couple of months of rumors indicating he might go back to Europe, Eurohockey.net is reporting that Lightning prospect Marek Kvapil has signed with Vitkovice of the Czech Extraliga for next season. Kvapil, 23, struggled the past two seasons to reach the promise he showed as a rookie in 2005-2006 when he scored 18 goals and 45 points in 79 games with the Springfield Falcons. Plagued by inconsistent effort and turnovers in the neutral zone, Kvapil languished in the ECHL for half of last season with the Mississippi Sea Wolves. Kvapil's decision is the first of a string of prospect roster moves to come in the next couple of months. Bolt Prospects' Chad Schnarr will have more on Johan Harju, Mitch Fadden, and Dane Crowley in the coming week.