[Regnecek]

I noticed there was no topic posted for Lukas Krajicek's contract extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Speaking as a Krajicek fan, I'm excited to see what he can accomplish this upcoming season with the Lightning. Hopefully, he can build on his career year last season. I also can't wait to see Ohlund and Krajicek re-unite!

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Lightning Re-Sign Lukas Krajicek
Yesterday

The Tampa Bay Lightning have re-signed defenseman Lukas Krajicek (LOO-cuss CRY-check) to a one-year contract today, Executive Vice President and General Manager Brian Lawton announced.

“Lukas is one of the elite skating defensemen in the NHL and he played admirably for us last season in a difficult blueline situation,” said Lawton. “We are pleased to sign him for the 2009-10 season and we look forward to seeing for training camp.”

Krajicek, a 6-foot-2, 196-pound native of Prostejov, Czech Republic, played in 71 games with the Lightning last season, recording two goals and 19 points. He led all Tampa Bay defensemen in assists and points while also ranking second in blocked shots with 90. His 71 games played were the second-most played during a season in his career. In 2008-09 Krajicek established career highs for assists, points and average ice time with 19:37.

The 25-year-old has played in 278 career NHL games with Tampa Bay, Vancouver and Florida. Krajicek has registered 10 career goals and 69 points with five power play goals and two game-winning goals. He scored a career-high three goals and tied his career-best with 16 points in 2006-07 with the Canucks. He was traded to Vancouver as part of the move that also sent goaltender Roberto Luongo from Florida to the Canucks. Krajicek made his NHL debut with the Panthers as an 18-year-old during the 2001-02 season. He has played in 12 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, all with Vancouver in 2006-07, recording two assists.

Krajicek has also played in 135 career AHL games with the San Antonio Rampage, tallying seven goals and 42 points over the course of three seasons. He also played in 168 games with the Peterborough Petes of the Ontario Hockey League during his junior career. He amassed 29 goals and 130 points in three seasons with Peterborough. He was named the best skater, fastest skater and best offensive defenseman in the OHL Eastern Conference in the coaches poll for the 2002-03 season and was voted a finalist as the OHL Eastern Conference’s best skater in the 2001 Coaches Poll.

He as originally drafted by Florida in the first-round, 24th overall, at the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. He was traded to Vancouver with Luongo and a sixth-round pick in 2006 in exchange for Bryan Allen, Alex Auld and Todd Bertuzzi on June 23, 2006. The Lightning acquired Krajicek with Juraj Simek from Vancouver in exchange for Shane O’Brien and Michel Ouellet on October 6, 2008.

Lightning Re-sign Lukas Krajicek

This post has been edited by Regnecek: 02 July 2009 - 02:52 PM

[TOMapleLaughs]

omg we could totally use him right about now....

[Gnickers87]

TOMapleLaughs, on Jul 2 2009, 02:53 PM, said:

omg we could totally use him right about now....

We actually really could,

I personally think people overlooked his puck-moving ability

[FlavourOfTheWeak]

YA THINK?!?!?!?!!

Quote

omg we need puck moving defenseman! i haet shane o brian

This post has been edited by FlavourOfTheWeak: 02 July 2009 - 03:26 PM

[Regnecek]

Gnickers87, on Jul 2 2009, 03:19 PM, said:

We actually really could,

I personally think people overlooked his puck-moving ability

I agree. I think he was completely underrated in Vancouver. Just because he's not as big as Shane O'Brien, doesn't mean he is less talented. The Canucks missed the presence of a puck-moving defensemen for all of last season. Krajicek only missed ten games last year, his smooth-skating and puck-moving ability could have been welcomed assets to the roster.

[Nuckz4life]

Ohlund's gone to his old teammate team.

[Pinhead]

Yeah.I know.

Im one of the 4 people on CDC who thought that SOB trade for Krajicek was a ripoff.

[Nosaj]

Nuckz4life, on Jul 2 2009, 03:40 PM, said:

Ohlund's gone to his old teammate team.

Haha, Lukas Krajicek must have talked to Ohlund over the summer and convinced him to sign with the "Bolts".

[TOMapleLaughs]

Gnickers87, on Jul 2 2009, 03:19 PM, said:

We actually really could,

I personally think people overlooked his puck-moving ability

It was his play without the puck that was the problem.

[AlexBurrows#14]

Pinhead, on Jul 2 2009, 03:58 PM, said:

Yeah.I know.

Im one of the 4 people on CDC who thought that SOB trade for Krajicek was a ripoff.

count me in

[seanjohn]

SOB WOULD BEATDOWN LK ANY DAY OF THE WEEK

[EternalCanuckFan]

I know that Krajicek was one of the better puck-moving defensemen in the organization before he was traded. However, maybe it's just me, but the Canucks seemed to get stuck in their own zone just as much as last season if not more even with Krajicek. The powerplay was more effective last season and SOB's size was valuable in clearing the net on PKs.

I'm not saying that the Canucks don't need a puck-moving D, but I don't think having Krajicek or O'Brien would have necessarily made a big difference. The Canucks would simply have lacked in another area.

[Regnecek]

seanjohn, on Jul 2 2009, 05:36 PM, said:

SOB WOULD BEATDOWN LK ANY DAY OF THE WEEK

SOB would also score on his own net and fumble trying to move the puck on any day of the week.

Krajicek led the Lightning in points and blocked shots by a defenseman last season. He had a career year and can build on that. What does SOB have to look back on from last season? In my opinion, while he may have had some good games with the Canucks, O'Brien wasn't a solid defender. On most nights he wasn't even the most physical guy on the team, let alone the blueline.

This post has been edited by Regnecek: 03 July 2009 - 11:58 AM

[Rob_Zepp]

TOMapleLaughs, on Jul 2 2009, 04:08 PM, said:

It was his play without the puck that was the problem.

Yup. He is a good player with the puck but struggles with the D part of the game. I would like to see him do well as he seemed like a good guy and his crying when he was told he was traded from the Canucks shows it is more than just a business for him.

[Regnecek]

Rob_Zepp, on Jul 3 2009, 12:04 PM, said:

Yup. He is a good player with the puck but struggles with the D part of the game. I would like to see him do well as he seemed like a good guy and his crying when he was told he was traded from the Canucks shows it is more than just a business for him.

He actually cried? I never heard him comment on the trade until after he was with the Lightning. He mentioned how much he was going to miss Vancouver and how incredible it was to play hockey in Canada.

[trav_have]

I never really liked the OB trade.
Krajicek is awesome. I still have his poster on my wall from the 07 playoffs.

[scottrockztheworld]

Regnecek, on Jul 3 2009, 12:18 PM, said:

He actually cried? I never heard him comment on the trade until after he was with the Lightning. He mentioned how much he was going to miss Vancouver and how incredible it was to play hockey in Canada.

Thats sad! I liked Lukas

[canuck-fan_44]

Pinhead, on Jul 2 2009, 03:58 PM, said:

Yeah.I know.

Im one of the 4 people on CDC who thought that SOB trade for Krajicek was a ripoff.

AlexBurrows#14, on Jul 2 2009, 05:31 PM, said:

count me in

count me in aswell. i dont have anything against SOB, but i think Krajicek just needed some time to prove himself and now he seems to be doing so in Tampa. Best of luck and have fun playing with Ohlund

[AmazingNuck]

canuck-fan_44, on Jul 3 2009, 01:04 PM, said:

count me in aswell. i dont have anything against SOB, but i think Krajicek just needed some time to prove himself and now he seems to be doing so in Tampa. Best of luck and have fun playing with Ohlund

I kind of thought that 08-09 would be Krajicek's break-out season for us, as we had no other puck moving defenseman and Salo/Bieksa were coming off of injuries, so I expected him to be a big part of our PP. He did great in Tampa, considering their defense wasn't that great, but I'm betting it will be a lot better this year.

[voicerobot]

EternalCanuckFan, on Jul 2 2009, 05:39 PM, said:

I know that Krajicek was one of the better puck-moving defensemen in the organization before he was traded. However, maybe it's just me, but the Canucks seemed to get stuck in their own zone just as much as last season if not more even with Krajicek. The powerplay was more effective last season and SOB's size was valuable in clearing the net on PKs.

I'm not saying that the Canucks don't need a puck-moving D, but I don't think having Krajicek or O'Brien would have necessarily made a big difference. The Canucks would simply have lacked in another area.

Thank you, another reasonable Canucks fan who doesn't have the mind of a 14 year old. Krajicek was the equivalent of O'Brien, they were just better at different things. Last year, people thought Ohlund, Salo, and maybe Edler would be enough puck moving d-men. Ohlund slowed down, Salo was injured, Edler is still developing. Bieksa is good in the offensive zone, but nothing great transitionally.