... HE’S GOING TO BE REALLY GOOD FOR US.

That’s all I can say. I’m pretty sure Drouin was happy, too, because he’s an important player on that team.”

It’s difficult to rate Sergachev’s importance to the Lightning, if only because the team has so many different weapons at its disposal. Nikita Kucherov, who led the league in scoring before Monday, and Steven Stamkos (tied for fourth) are equally deserving of the Hart Trophy. Defenceman Victor Hedman was the Norris Trophy frontrunner at mid-season and goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is the early favourite for the Vezina Trophy. more than enough ammunition to lob at GM Marc Bergevin and his questionable trade history.

“Definitely a very talented player offensively,” Lightning defenceman Anton Stralman said of Sergachev.

“The way he moves and the way he can shift angles, (Ottawa’s) Erik (Karlsson) moves kind of the same way on the blue-line,” says Hedman. “He’s obviously a bigger body, but he moves really good out there. If he keeps developing, keeps getting better, he’s going to be really good for us.”

That being said, it’s been an up and down year for Sergachev,