Wanted to give you an update from earlier today, but I had the number of games Tarnasky must play for Nashville this season in order for Tampa Bay to get a fifth round pick from Nashville. The Lightning will have a sixth round pick no matter what, but if Tarnasky plays 55 games, Tampa Bay gets a fifth rounder in this coming draft.

Let’s face it, when Tarnasky broke his thumb on the first day of training camp - he took a slap shot off the thumb - it really set him back. In a training camp with so many forwards on NHL contracts, you knew he was going to have to stand out to show a new management and coaching staff what he could bring. Since he was never really on the ice, he couldn’t show anything.

I was able to speak to Brian Lawton tonight - and since it was about 12:20 a.m. in Slovakia when I spoke with him, I do appreciate him taking the time - and he admitted that Nashville had called on a handful of occasions during the summer asking about Tarnasky. Lawton kept holding off Preds’ management because Lawton said he didn’t know a whole lot about Tarnasky and wanted the chance to see him up close and personal. But since Tarnasky couldn’t get on the ice, the emergence of David Koci and the strong camp by Jussi Jokinen - not to mention Zenon Konopka, who is on a one-way contract next season - sort of helped to push Tarnasky too far down the depth chart that Lawton decided to make the move to alleviate the team’s overabundance of forwards.

Michel Ouellet was put on waivers for the same reason. The team ultimately would like another team to put in a claim for him, and if I were a team like Nashville, Vancouver or the NY Rangers (hey, they’re over in that part of the world, why not) I’d bring Ouellet in. He showed at the end of last year he can play in a top six role as he just took off with Jeff Halpern and nearly reached the 20-goal mark. Under the right circumstances, Ouellet can be a top six forward. If for some reason Ouellet does not clear waivers, the team is undecided as to whether they will assign him to Norfolk. The deadline is noon EST on Tuesday.

Now, there is still one move to make before rosters have to be set prior to 3 p.m. on Friday. Expect Paul Ranger to be placed on injured reserve, meaning the seven defenseman on the roster will be on the roster for Saturday’s opener - Andrej Meszaros, Matt Carle, Shane O’Brien, Janne Niskala, Mike Lundin, Vladimir Mihalik and Andrew Hutchinson.

The three goaltenders will all be on the roster as the teams playing in Europe are allowed to expand the roster by one to carry an extra goaltender, so Mike Smith, Olie Kolzig and Karri Ramo will all be in Prague.

Now, there are 15 forwards on the roster, which means to get down to the maximum of 24, there has to be one more move made, assuming Ouellet is cleared off the NHL roster.

I have to think Vinny Lecavalier, who played on Sunday in Berlin and is scheduled to play again Tuesday in Slovakia, is ready for the start of the season or else he wouldn’t be in the lineup against HC Slovak. So, here are my projections for what’s left to come:

Lecavalier will be on the top line centering Marty St. Louis and Vinny Prospal.
Steven Stamkos will center the second line with Ryan Malone on the left and likely Radim Vrbata on the right, although Evgeny Artyukhin has been seeing some time on Stamkos’ right in preseason.
Now, the bottom two lines are going to be a mish-mash of combinations, but you have to think Gary Roberts, Mark Recchi, Chris Gratton, Adam Hall, Artyukhin and Jussi Jokinen have spots sewn up. That means Ryan Craig, Jason Ward and David Koci are likely the three bubble players right now - Koci is the only one not scheduled to play in Slovakia. Craig has been very versatile throughout his career and the Lightning signed him to a two-year deal even though he was coming off knee surgery. That would probably leave Ward and Koci as the final two.

Coach Barry Melrose has praised Koci for his willingness and ability to stick up for his teammates and being able to switch momentum in a couple of the games in which he has played. But Melrose has also liked Jason Ward and from the few highlights I’ve seen from the game in Berlin, Ward had another good game. It’s a tough call if it comes down to those two guys, but Koci has limitations in what he can do, even though he does his role well. If Ward is placed on waivers, it’s likely he would go unclaimed meaning Tampa Bay would have to pay him $750,000 in the minor leagues. Koci, on the other hand, is on a two-way contract and would likely clear waivers.

My guess is Koci will wind up being the odd-man out unless a trade develops in the next 72 hours.