First it was the Detroit Red Wings of the early and mid-2000s. Then, several years ago, when Chicago was still Capital-C Chicago and there was plenty of under-30 talent to go around, it seemed like you could always count on Stan Bowman to reel in one or two players a summer on extremely favourable terms.

Whether it was by trade or via free agency, there was always someone who met his team’s unique problem that summer, coming in on the cheap and ensuring the dynasty would roll for at least another year. That is, right up until that stopped happening. The big names here were guys like Brian Campbell, who went back to Chicago after a years-long, semi-self-imposed exile in Florida, or Brad Richards, who got picked up off the discard pile and looked like a really good No. 2 centre for a year.

Then there were the multiple reunions with former mainstays (Patrick Sharp, for instance) who cashed in elsewhere and ended up going back for a year here and there to lend a hand at a low price.

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The seat of such bargaining power seems to have shifted as Chicago’s strength faded. Now it seems to reside in Tampa, where the Lightning have made two low-cost, shrewd pickups that give them exactly what they were missing.

Patrick Maroon signed a one-year deal with the Lightning this weekend for just $900,000 — well below what should have been market value. There, he will undoubtedly provide some size, muscle and all that in a third-line role. And because of the strength of the roster, they will likely also afford him ample opportunity to improve on the 10 goals and 28 points he put up last season. At the very least, it seems like Adam Erne was more than replaced for a lower price than Detroit ended up giving him. You have to think there’s a strong possibility Tampa gets more for less from Maroon than Detroit gets out of Erne.

You can apply that same logic to the Kevin Shattenkirk deal from earlier this summer. Sure, things didn’t work out on Broadway and he didn’t end up being worth the money, but for $1.75 million against the cap, you’re far more likely to get value on that deal, especially if you put him in a position to succeed. The Rangers couldn’t — for a lot of reasons, not the least of which were PR-related — so they had to move on. The Bolts have plenty of options to do just that, and even if he’s a third-pairing guy and that’s it, well, there are far more expensive third-pairing guys in the league.

Simply because of who’s already locked in with that team, Julien BriseBois will spend the next few years (at least) in a position where he can be very selective about reclamation projects, and often get more value with that player than any other team would have. And much like Bowman got to take credit for simply being the guy who picked up the phone and expressed interest in these kinds of players before, so too will BriseBois continue to make a lot of hay with these acquisitions.

Inheriting a roster loaded with world-beating talent isn’t particularly difficult, and these kinds of signings will help keep the job easy. At least, that is, until it comes time to start making hard decisions around those middle-of-the-lineup options like Palat, Killorn, and Johnson. And even then, your own players will be more willing to take hometown discounts (see also: Stamkos), while veterans from outside the organization will be happy to do the same just to play with all that talent.

31 Takes

Anaheim Ducks: All I’m saying is, this should be 31 teams and it should be Summer League. Why have like four of these smaller tournaments with five or six teams each when you could have one and make it an event? Make it U-23 or something. Pretty easy.

Arizona Coyotes: Asking who the real Clayton Keller is — the 65-point rookie or 47-point sophomore who was considerably worse — really matters for the Coyotes going forward.

Boston Bruins: Bruce Cassidy just seems like a nice guy. Prettttttty good coach, too. I was skeptical when he replaced Claude Julien but man, what a great job he’s done.

Buffalo Sabres: I honestly don’t think Casey Mittelstadt was as bad as everyone acted like he was last season. Not to say he was good or anything, but this is a classic case where a guy got hyped to the moon and then didn’t live up to the hype that should have never been put on him in the first place. He’s not even 21 and it’s not like he was this incredible player in his one year of college. I think he’ll be a fine NHLer, and everyone else will think that’s a huge disappointment.