The Tampa Bay Lightning may have a chance to bring back a former winner of theirs.
Blake Coleman plays for the Calgary Flames now, but he won two Stanley Cups while taking the ice for the Lightning.
With the NHL trade deadline about two months away, Coleman is looking like a player who could be dealt.
If he's moved, Coleman would make sense for a reunion in Tampa Bay. That's what The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun wrote in a new article on Friday, and he lays out a compelling case.
The one sticking point may be that Coleman isn't a free agent after this season. He's got another year under contract, so Calgary wouldn't have to move him if it didn't want to.
"Coleman is the player the Calgary Flames have received the most calls on this season," LeBrun writes. "That’s because his game is especially fit for playoff time. He is a leadership/character guy with a versatile skill set and the ability to make an impact on both sides of the puck. There’s no guarantee the Flames move him, but it’s going to be tough to resist the calls that will come closer to the deadline. And I like the idea of Coleman being traded back to Tampa Bay, where he won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021."
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Tampa Bay has done this before.
"The Bolts already brought back Ryan McDonagh and Yanni Gourde, so why not Coleman?" LeBrun writes. "All the injuries the Lightning have had this season have affected their ability to accrue cap space, so the Flames would need to retain salary to make the math work — and even then, it won’t be easy. But where there’s a will, there’s a way."
Lightning fans would certainly be pumped to bring Coleman back, and as LeBrun writes, he has a game built for winning on the biggest stages.
Coleman is 34 years old now, still capable of making an impact. If the Flames pick up the phone, the Lightning should take a chance on a deal to get him back.
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