“Trust the Yzerplan.”
It’s a mantra Tampa Bay Lightning fans have come to adopt when discussing hockey, referencing the moves of general manager Steve Yzerman, whose “GM” title sometimes seems like it should stand for “g–damned magician.”
He negotiated away valuable space under the salary cap before the 2017 trade deadline, which should enable him to pay pending restricted free agents like Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Andrej Sustr, at least two of whom are due for a raise.
Yzerman also managed to get something for goaltender Ben Bishop, trading him as a rental to the Los Angeles Kings, knowing full well he couldn’t afford to resign him and that he had Andrei Vasilevskiy waiting in the wings.