Lightning to deal Boyle to San Jose

After having defensmean Dan Boyle waive his no-trade clause, the Lightning are in the process of dealing him and defenseman Brad Lukowich to the San Jose Sharks for another blueliner, Matt Carle and a first- and fourth-round pick.

EN Says: For a team that wants to win now, you have to wonder why Tampa Bay is making this move. Sure it provide salary cap relief, but Boyle is a top ten defenseman in this league and he was clearly Tampa Bay's best guy on the blue line.

They did get a nice quality young defenseman in Matt Carle out of the deal and he will eventually be a No. 1 defenseman but he's still developing. He'll kind of be forced into being Tampa Bay's top blue liner now however.

Getting some draft picks, particularly a first-rounder, is a nice move considering they lost a few picks in the deals that brought Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts to Tampa Bay and the move they made in attempting to get Brian Rolston from the Wild.

Lukowich is a solid fifth- or sixth-defenseman in the mold of Rob Scuderi. He won't hurt you and is usually in good position.

After losing Brian Campbell to free agency, the Sharks have really upgraded their defense by bringing in Boyle, Lukowich and Rob Blake.

James Mirtle says the move is a mess for both teams.

(Photo: Dirk Shadd/St. Petersburg Times)