It appears that Dan Boyle has agreed to waive his no-trade clause and will be dealt to the San Jose Sharks. TSN is reporting the deal is all but done, just waiting on the proper paperwork.

As of late Thursday, San Jose was considered to be the front runner for Boyle. The Sharks were in the running to acquire him at the trade deadline before Boyle signed a six-year, $40 million extension in February. At that time, the deal to acquire Boyle would have seen Tampa Bay land defenseman Matt Carle and possibly forward Devin Setoguchi.

Now TSN is reporting that Brad Lukowich is part of the deal with Tampa Bay receiving Carle, a first round pick and a fourth round pick along with a unnamed prospect.

This isn’t the end of Tampa Bay’s retooling of the roster. The Lightning were in the running to sign defenseman Rob Blake until San Jose offered him a $5 million contract yesterday, which is a sure sign that Tampa Bay wants to add some sort of a veteran defensive presences on the blue line.

Assuming this deal goes through as reported, here is the Lightning defense: Filip Kuba, Paul Ranger, Shane O’Brien, Matt Carle, Alex Picard, Matt Smaby, Mike Lundin and Janne Niskala. It’s obvious this isn’t going to be the group that mans the blue line when the season opens in October. I think that Kuba might still be a target to be traded, but if he’s not, then my bet on the opening night lineup will be - Kuba, Ranger, O’Brien, Carle, Picard, TBA.