Vinik Gets His Man: Tod Leiweke Leaves Seattle Seahawks, Joins Lightning As CEO

The Tampa Bay Lightning have named Tod Leiweke their new CEO, according to a release by the team on Monday. Leiweke leaves the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks, where he held the same position.

You could have asked our Lightning blog, Raw Charge, about this potential hiring months ago and they really wouldn’t have been all that shocked. Here’s what Cassie McLellan wrote back in late April:

The Lightning officially named Guy Boucher their head coach on Thursday morning. Here’s the team press release:

For more, visit Raw Charge.

Earlier in the day on Monday, it appeared that the Columbus Blue Jackets were prepared to name Guy Boucher their next head coach. But after Boucher, who carried the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs to a 52-17 record this past season as their bench boss, turned down the Jackets, it became clear that he would be headed south instead.

Yep, Boucher will be headed to Tampa, where it seems new general manager Steve Yzerman has made his first hire. Quebec-based, French-language online daily Rue Frontenac first broke details of the story. The site reports that Boucher is expected to bring his entire coaching staff with him from Hamilton, where he just finished up his first year as a head coach in the professional ranks.

The NHL and the Tampa Bay Lightning are providing a live Internet stream of the announcement making Steve Yzerman the sixth general manager in team history.

Watch live at 3 PM Eastern by clicking here.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have called a news conference at 3 PM Eastern on Tuesday, where they will announce that hockey legend Steve Yzerman has been named the team’s sixth general manager. The news comes via the AP.

Yzerman has never been a general manager in the NHL before, but he has held a position in the front office of the Detroit Red Wings and was in charge of putting together Canada’s 2010 gold medal Olympic team.

A report has confirmed that NBC/TSN analyst Pierre McGuire is in the running for the Tampa Bay Lightning’s open general manager position. According to John Boruk of CSN Philadelphia, McGuire has interviewed twice for the job.

A year ago, McGuire was reportedly in the running to become the next general manager of the Minnesota Wild. Here’s what Minneapolis Star-Tribune writer Michael Russo had to say at the time.

Read more on this subject and discuss the news with other Bolts fans at Raw Charge.

TSN’s Darren Dreger reported today that the candidates for the Tampa Bay Lightning General Manager position have come down to a short list of possible candidates, including Detroit Red Wings Vice President Steve Yzerman. From TSN:

For more on this situation, please visit our Lightning site Raw Charge.

Hockey Wilderness, SB Nation’s Minnesota Wild blog, sent a friendly message to fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday morning. According to Tom Jones of the St. Pete Times, former Wild GM Doug Risebrough is “very interested” in the Lightning general manager position, but Tampa fans should be wary.

Be afraid of Risebrough, warns HW.

In the aftermath of the firings of Rick Tocchet and Brian Lawton, members of the media have speculated on who will fill the vacant positions in the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. According to SBN’s Raw Charge, this speculation is irresponsible.

New Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik has made his presence felt already in town, swiftly firing coach Rick Tocchet and general manager Brian Lawton at season’s end. Will Vinik have a positive impact on the franchise, or is he just another ‘caretaker?’

Cassie McClellan at SBN’s From The Rink tries to make sense of the situation:

Even though ownership says the Bolts won’t hire a new general manager until a CEO is in place, that is not stopping the media from speculating on who will become the next general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

SBN’s Raw Charge has more:

The NHL would be happy for this situation to happen quietly with the bankruptcy problems in Phoenix and issues with the sale in Florida that have happened this summer. While the Lightning have less fan issues, the Canadian media is going to jump on any southern hockey market that has ownership issues and state that the team should not be there in the first place.

We officially have our first casualties of the 2010 NHL off season.

New Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik has “decided to replace” team general manager Brian Lawton and head coach Rick Tocchet, as he announced in a letter to fans on Monday morning, the first official day of Tampa’s off season. Vinik called the hiring process for a new coach and GM “exciting,” and that he hopes to have it complete by the NHL Draft in late June.

New Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik spoke with Paul Kennedy of Sun Sports on Friday.

Here’s the video, courtesy of the team and passed along via SBN’s Raw Charge:

Over at SB Nation’s Raw Charge, Lightning fans reacted to the announcement that Jeff Vinik has purchased their club from former co-owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie.

Here’s John Fontana:

The Tampa Bay Lightning announced today that Jeff Vinik has officially purchased the club.

Via a team press release:

that the sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning has become official. Jeff Vinik has agreed to buy the team from Oren Koules and Len Barrie for $150 million which is less than what was being reported and far less than the $206 million that they initially bought the team for.

If Jeff Vinik’s purchase of the Tampa Bay Lightning goes through, super star forward Vincent Lecavalier could be headed out of town. Vinik reportedly believes that he would need to shed Lecavalier’s $85 million contract to make the organization practical.

That’s totally understandable, especially when you consider the fact that he’s under contract until 2020. Yes, 2020. The real nugget though, is that the Lightning could potentially trade Lecavalier before Vinik’s purchase is even complete.

On the heels of the circus that has surrounded the Phoenix Coyotes ownership the past few months, the Tampa Bay Lightning are having their own front office issues. While it was first reported that Oren Koules had taken full control of the team over Len Barrie, SBN website Raw Charge has some clarification on what exactly is going down in Florida: