The trade of defenseman Dan Boyle to the San Jose Sharks, along with Brad Lukowich, is still pending upon league approval. Just got word back from Dan, who has to wait until things are finalized before he can speak. I have the feeling he’s going to have a lot to say about what has gone down, judging from his tone when talking to him on Thursday morning. Can’t imagine he’s happy, but we’ll have to wait until things get finalized.

In the meantime, looking at things from a hockey standpoint, what do you think of the deal? I do like Matt Carle, been a fan of his since he broke in at the end of the 2005-06 season with the Sharks. He has a lot of upside, especially from an offensive standpoint, even though he struggled through last season, mainly due to injury. And if Ty Wishart is indeed part of the package, he’s a pretty touted former No. 16 overall pick in 2006. At 6-foot-4, he’s got some good size and put up some good numbers with Prince George (where Vladimir Mihalik and Dana Tyrell played) before ending last season with Moose Jaw in junior and finishing out the year with Worcester in the American League.

And if they are getting a first and a fourth round pick, that gives the Lightning a pair of first round picks for next year to go with two second round picks (I believe the fourth round pick will transfer to Minnesota as part of the deal to acquire Brian Rolston’s rights, but I’ll have to confirm).

In the short term, this trade will set Tampa Bay back a bit as they now lack a veteran presence on the blue line, outside of Filip Kuba, although I think they will still try to address that before too long (as I mentioned before, they were in the running for Rob Blake before the price got too high). But in the long term, with a pair of first rounders and now adding another young defenseman, things down the road are starting to look a bit better in terms of a pipeline of players to either plug in a few years down the road or to use as assets for trade routes or such.

It also hurts to lose a quality player and person in Dan Boyle. As I stated last night, I don’t think this was handled the right way. Boyle is a terriffic player, a great play maker and a great presence in the locker room. Say what you will about his play last year, but I think he deserves a break for the injury he went through and by the time he came back, the season was all but lost anyway. Boyle is an elite player in this league, and you can judge that by the package the Sharks are sending to add him to their roster and the reported number of teams that were interested in him.

So, just from a pure hockey standpoint - personal feelings aside - how to you view the trade?