# 2008–09 Tampa Bay Lightning season

The 2008–09 Tampa Bay Lightning season was the 17th season for the franchise in Tampa Bay. After a season of turnover in ownership, management and players, the team had a turbulent regular season. The Lightning failed with qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.

## Off-season

On June 3, it was announced that head coach John Tortorella would not return to the team despite having one year remaining on his contract.
On June 18, 2008, the NHL Board of Governors approved the sale of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The sale of the Lightning was made to movie and television producer Oren Koules. The deal depended the closing of the financial deal of US$200 million to buy the team and lease the St. Pete Times Forum. Koules, 47, played in Medicine Hat and Calgary in the Western Hockey League (WHL) in the early 1980s. In more recent years, he achieved success with the Saw movie franchise and the television sitcom Two and a Half Men. Among his business partners in the Lightning deal is former NHL player Len Barrie.
On June 24, the Lightning announced that Barry Melrose was hired as the team's new head coach. Melrose had not coached in the NHL since 1995 with the Los Angeles Kings. Since that time, he had served as an analyst for the ESPN networks.
Goaltender Marc Denis' contract was bought-out by the Lightning on June 25, almost two years to the date after his acquisition from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Denis had one year remaining on his contract.
The Lightning acquired the rights to left wingers Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2009. Malone then agreed to a seven-year contract with the Lightning two days before he was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent.
The Lightning acquired the rights to right wing Brian Rolston from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a conditional draft pick in 2009 or 2010. Rolston would later sign with the New Jersey Devils.
The whirlwind 32 days of questionable moves by new ownership came to a head on July 4 when, despite coming off a recent contract extension, Dan Boyle was traded along with Brad Lukowich to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for Matt Carle (who would be traded in early November), Ty Wishart, a first-round draft pick in 2009 (which was traded in August) and a fourth round draft pick in 2010. Boyle was pressured to waive his no-trade clause by Tampa Bay's ownership, who said they would otherwise place him on waivers where he would likely be claimed by the Atlanta Thrashers. Frustrated at interference in the team's hockey operations by owners Len Barrie and Oren Koules, seven days later, general manager Jay Feaster resigned, despite having three years remaining on his contract. Indeed, Brian Lawton had already taken over the position, though not officially until October 2. John Tortorella would later go on to label the new owners as "cowboys" for these and other dubious moves, a moniker that would stick with them.
On August 29, the Lightning acquired defenceman Andrej Meszaros from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for defenceman Filip Kuba, as well as Alexandre Picard, and a first-round pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft (obtained in the Dan Boyle deal with the San Jose Sharks). The Lightning would go on to sign Meszaros to a six-year contract worth $24 million.
On September 18, the Lightning announced that their new team captain would be Vincent Lecavalier.

## Preseason

The Tampa Bay Lightning will be playing five pre-season games before opening the season against the New York Rangers on October 4 in Prague. Of special note, this is the first time that Tampa Bay will be opening the season outside of North America. This will also be the first time that the Lightning will play a pre-season game outside North America, playing Eisbären Berlin in Germany on September 28. It was announced later that the Lightning would also play against Slovan Bratislava of the Slovak Extraliga on September 30.
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time | Result |
| Saturday, September 20 | Pittsburgh | Mellon Arena | 7:30pm | 5-4 W (SO) |
| Monday, September 22 | Pittsburgh | St. Pete Times Forum | 7:30pm | 3-2 L |
| Tuesday, September 23 | NY Rangers | St. Pete Times Forum | 7:30 pm | 3-2 W |
| Thursday, September 25 | NY Rangers | Madison Square Garden | 7:00 pm | 4-2 W |
| Sunday, September 28 | Eisbären Berlin | Berlin, Germany | 10:00 pm | 4-1 W |
| Tuesday, September 30 | Slovan Bratislava | Bratislava, Slovakia | 12:00 pm | 3-2 W (SO) |
* Note: all times EST and bold games are home games.

## Regular season

The Lightning struggled on the penalty kill, finishing the regular season with the most power-play opportunities against (405) and the most power-play goals allowed (89).

### Divisional standings

Southeast Division :
| | | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | y – Washington Capitals | 82 | 50 | 24 | 8 | 272 | 245 | 108 |
| 2 | Carolina Hurricanes | 82 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 239 | 226 | 97 |
| 3 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 41 | 30 | 11 | 234 | 231 | 93 |
| 4 | Atlanta Thrashers | 82 | 35 | 41 | 6 | 257 | 280 | 76 |
| 5 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 24 | 40 | 18 | 210 | 279 | 66 |

### Conference standings

Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | z – Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 53 | 19 | 10 | 274 | 196 | 116 |
| 2 | y – Washington Capitals | SE | 82 | 50 | 24 | 8 | 272 | 245 | 108 |
| 3 | y – New Jersey Devils | AT | 82 | 51 | 27 | 4 | 244 | 209 | 106 |
| 4 | Pittsburgh Penguins | AT | 82 | 45 | 28 | 9 | 264 | 239 | 99 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Flyers | AT | 82 | 44 | 27 | 11 | 264 | 238 | 99 |
| 6 | Carolina Hurricanes | SE | 82 | 45 | 30 | 7 | 239 | 226 | 97 |
| 7 | New York Rangers | AT | 82 | 43 | 30 | 9 | 210 | 218 | 95 |
| 8 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 41 | 30 | 11 | 249 | 247 | 93 |
| 8.5 ||||||||||
| 9 | Florida Panthers | SE | 82 | 41 | 30 | 11 | 234 | 231 | 93 |
| 10 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 41 | 32 | 9 | 250 | 234 | 91 |
| 11 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 36 | 35 | 11 | 217 | 237 | 83 |
| 12 | Toronto Maple Leafs | NE | 82 | 34 | 35 | 13 | 250 | 293 | 81 |
| 13 | Atlanta Thrashers | SE | 82 | 35 | 41 | 6 | 257 | 280 | 76 |
| 14 | Tampa Bay Lightning | SE | 82 | 24 | 40 | 18 | 210 | 279 | 66 |
| 15 | New York Islanders | AT | 82 | 26 | 47 | 9 | 201 | 279 | 61 |
bold – qualified for playoffs, y – division winner, z – placed first in conference (and division)
AT – Atlantic Division, NE – Northeast Division, SE – Southeast Division

### Game log

2008–09 Game Log :
October: 3-3-3 (Home 1-2-3, Road 2-1-0)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
1October 4New York Rangers1 – 2Prague†17,0850-1-00
2October 5New York Rangers1 – 2Prague‡17,0850-2-00
3October 11Carolina Hurricanes3 – 4 OTSt. Pete Times Forum18,5520-2-11
4October 16New York Islanders3 – 4 OTSt. Pete Times Forum14,4200-2-22
5October 18Minnesota Wild0 – 1 SOSt. Pete Times Forum15,1910-2-33
6October 21Atlanta Thrashers3 – 2 OTSt. Pete Times Forum13,9221-2-35
7October 25San Jose Sharks0 – 3St. Pete Times Forum16,8311-3-35
8October 28Toronto Maple Leafs3 – 2Air Canada Centre19,3482-3-37
9October 30Buffalo Sabres5 – 2HSBC Arena18,6903-3-39
† Tampa Bay was the designated 'home' team on October 4. ‡ New York Rangers were the designated 'home' team on October 5. :
November: 3-7-4 (Home 2-2-2, Road 1-5-2)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
10November 1Ottawa Senators3 – 2St. Pete Times Forum16,1044-3-311
11November 5New Jersey Devils3 – 4 SOPrudential Center11,6194-3-412
12November 6New York Rangers2 – 5Madison Square Garden18,2004-4-412
13November 8Philadelphia Flyers2 – 1Wachovia Center19,4125-4-414
14November 10Washington Capitals2 – 4Verizon Center17,9325-5-414
15November 12Florida Panthers0 – 4BankAtlantic Center12,1045-6-414
16November 13Detroit Red Wings3 – 4St. Pete Times Forum20,5445-7-414
17November 16Carolina Hurricanes2 – 3 SORBC Center13,7815-7-515
18November 18Florida Panthers3 – 4 SOSt. Pete Times Forum16,1765-7-616
19November 21Nashville Predators4 – 1St. Pete Times Forum16,4446-7-618
20November 23New Jersey Devils3 – 7St. Pete Times Forum14,2226-8-618
21November 26New York Rangers2 – 3 SOSt. Pete Times Forum16,9916-8-719
22November 28Minnesota Wild2 – 4Xcel Energy Center18,5686-9-719
23November 29Colorado Avalanche3 – 4Pepsi Center18,0076-10-719 :
December: 4-6-3 (Home 1-2-2, Road 3-4-1)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
24December 2Philadelphia Flyers3 – 4 OTWachovia Center19,2276-10-820
25December 4Boston Bruins1 – 3St. Pete Times Forum15,5986-11-820
26December 6Buffalo Sabres3 – 4St. Pete Times Forum17,1546-12-820
27December 8Boston Bruins3 – 5TD Banknorth Garden16,9736-13-820
28December 10Buffalo Sabres2 – 4HSBC Arena18,4316-14-820
29December 11Montreal Canadiens3 – 1Bell Centre21,2737-14-822
30December 13Ottawa Senators0 – 2Scotiabank Place18,4467-15-822
31December 18Colorado Avalanche1 – 2 SOSt. Pete Times Forum16,3337-15-923
32December 20Atlanta Thrashers3 – 4Philips Arena14,3957-16-923
33December 23Pittsburgh Penguins2 – 0Mellon Arena17,0648-16-925
34December 26Florida Panthers4 – 3 SOBankAtlantic Center16,9619-16-927
35December 27Florida Panthers6 – 4St. Pete Times Forum18,22610-16-929
36December 30Montreal Canadiens1 – 2 SOSt. Pete Times Forum20,45410-16-1030 :
January: 7-7-0 (Home 4-3-0, Road 3-4-0)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
37January 1Washington Capitals4 – 7Verizon Center18,22710-17-1030
38January 3Carolina Hurricanes2 – 3St. Pete Times Forum15,87310-18-1030
39January 4Atlanta Thrashers4 – 1Philips Arena10,75011-18-1032
40January 8Phoenix Coyotes1 – 4Jobing.com Arena13,73611-19-1032
41January 9Anaheim Ducks4 – 3Honda Center17,17412-19-1034
42January 12Los Angeles Kings3 – 1Staples Center16,51113-19-1036
43January 13San Jose Sharks1 – 7HP Pavilion at San Jose17,49613-20-1036
44January 15Philadelphia Flyers4 – 1St. Pete Times Forum15,60414-20-1038
45January 17Florida Panthers3 – 4St. Pete Times Forum17,21714-21-1038
46January 19Dallas Stars4 – 2St. Pete Times Forum13,99115-21-1040
47January 21Buffalo Sabres5 – 3St. Pete Times Forum15,61116-21-1042
48January 27Montreal Canadiens5 – 3St. Pete Times Forum15,91217-21-1044
49January 29Carolina Hurricanes2 – 3RBC Center16,40517-22-1044
50January 30Philadelphia Flyers1 – 6St. Pete Times Forum18,12017-23-1044 :
February: 3-7-2 (Home 3-3-1, Road 0-4-1)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
51February 3New York Islanders1 – 3Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum9,80817-24-1044
52February 4Pittsburgh Penguins3 – 4 OTMellon Arena16,97717-24-1145
53February 7New York Islanders1 – 0St. Pete Times Forum14,81018-24-1147
54February 10Atlanta Thrashers1 – 3St. Pete Times Forum13,49018-25-1147
55February 12Toronto Maple Leafs6 – 4St. Pete Times Forum16,52619-25-1149
56February 14Washington Capitals1 – 5St. Pete Times Forum17,24919-26-1149
57February 17Chicago Blackhawks3 – 5St. Pete Times Forum15,43119-27-1149
58February 19New Jersey Devils2 – 3 SOSt. Pete Times Forum14,40819-27-1250
59February 20Carolina Hurricanes1 – 4RBC Center17,71119-28-1250
60February 22Boston Bruins4 – 3St. Pete Times Forum18,45420-28-1252
61February 24Edmonton Oilers3 – 5Rexall Place16,83920-29-1252
62February 27Vancouver Canucks1 – 2General Motors Place18,63020-30-1252 :
March: 4-6-5 (Home 1-4-3, Road 3-2-2)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
63March 1Calgary Flames8 – 6Pengrowth Saddledome19,28921-30-1254
64March 3Pittsburgh Penguins1 – 3St. Pete Times Forum19,90821-31-1254
65March 6St. Louis Blues3 – 4 OTSt. Pete Times Forum13,83121-31-1355
66March 7Carolina Hurricanes3 – 9St. Pete Times Forum15,69221-32-1355
67March 11Ottawa Senators2 – 3 OTScotiabank Place19,23121-32-1456
68March 12Toronto Maple Leafs4 – 1Air Canada Centre19,20922-32-1458
69March 14Florida Panthers4 – 3 SOBankAtlantic Center17,73423-32-1460
70March 17Toronto Maple Leafs3 – 4 SOSt. Pete Times Forum18,79323-32-1561
71March 19Washington Capitals2 – 5St. Pete Times Forum16,54123-33-1561
72March 21Atlanta Thrashers3 – 4 SOSt. Pete Times Forum15,39123-33-1662
73March 24Columbus Blue Jackets2 – 1 OTSt. Pete Times Forum14,45424-33-1664
74March 26Montreal Canadiens2 – 3 OTBell Centre21,27324-33-1765
75March 27Washington Capitals3 – 5Verizon Center18,27724-34-1765
76March 29Ottawa Senators0 – 3St. Pete Times Forum16,42724-35-1765
77March 31Boston Bruins1 – 3TD Banknorth Garden16,99624-36-1765 :
April: 0-4-1 (Home 0-2-0, Road 0-2-1)
GameDateOpponentScoreLocationAttendanceRecordPoints
78April 3New Jersey Devils4 – 5 OTPrudential Center17,62524-36-1866
79April 4New York Islanders1 – 3Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum12,80924-37-1866
80April 7Pittsburgh Penguins4 – 6St. Pete Times Forum19,53824-38-1866
81April 9Washington Capitals2 – 4St. Pete Times Forum18,89124-39-1866
82April 11Atlanta Thrashers2 – 6Philips Arena17,12224-40-1866 :
Schedule :

### Record vs. Opponents

| Team | Points | Record |
| New Jersey* | 106 | 0–1–3 |
| NY Islanders | 61 | 1–2–1 |
| NY Rangers | 95 | 0–3–1 |
| Philadelphia | 99 | 1–2–1 |
| Pittsburgh | 99 | 1–2–1 |
| Boston* | 116 | 1–3–0 |
| Buffalo | 91 | 2–2–0 |
| Montreal | 93 | 2–0–2 |
| Ottawa | 83 | 1–2–1 |
| Toronto | 81 | 3–0–1 |
| Atlanta | 76 | 2–3–1 |
| Florida | 93 | 3–2–1 |
| Carolina | 97 | 0–4–2 |
| Washington* | 108 | 0–6–0 |
| Chicago | 104 | 0–0–1 |
| Columbus | 92 | 1–0–0 |
| Detroit* | 112 | 0–1–0 |
| Nashville | 88 | 0–1–0 |
| St. Louis | 92 | 0–0–1 |
| Calgary | 98 | 1–0–0 |
| Colorado | 69 | 0–1–1 |
| Edmonton | 85 | 0–1–0 |
| Minnesota | 89 | 0–1–1 |
| Vancouver* | 100 | 0–1–0 |
| Anaheim | 91 | 1–0–0 |
| Dallas | 83 | 1–0–0 |
| Los Angeles | 79 | 1–0–0 |
| Phoenix | 79 | 1–0–0 |
| San Jose* | 117 | 0–2–0 |
Notes: * denotes division winner; teams in bold are in the Southeast Division; teams in italics qualified for the playoffs; points refer to the points achieved by the team whom the Thrashers played against
= Member of the Atlantic Division = Member of the Northeast Division = Member of the Southeast Division = Member of the Central Division = Member of the Northeast Division = Member of the Pacific Division

## Playoffs

The Tampa Bay Lightning failed to qualify for the 2009 NHL playoffs.

## Player stats
### Skaters

Regular season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | +/− | PIM |
| Martin St. Louis | 82 | 30 | 50 | 80 | +4 | 14 |
| Vincent Lecavalier | 77 | 29 | 38 | 67 | -9 | 54 |
| Steven Stamkos | 79 | 23 | 23 | 46 | -13 | 39 |
| Vaclav Prospal | 82 | 19 | 26 | 45 | -20 | 52 |
| Mark Recchi$^‡$ | 62 | 13 | 32 | 45 | -15 | 20 |
| Ryan Malone | 70 | 26 | 19 | 45 | +4 | 98 |
| Steve Eminger$^{†‡}$ | 50 | 4 | 19 | 23 | -4 | 36 |
| Lukas Krajicek | 71 | 2 | 17 | 19 | -8 | 48 |
| Jeff Halpern | 52 | 7 | 9 | 16 | -13 | 32 |
| Evgeny Artyukhin | 73 | 6 | 10 | 16 | +1 | 151 |
| Andrej Meszaros | 52 | 2 | 14 | 16 | -4 | 36 |
| Jussi Jokinen$^‡$ | 46 | 6 | 10 | 16 | -8 | 16 |
| Matt Pettinger | 59 | 8 | 7 | 15 | -14 | 24 |
| Cory Murphy$^†$ | 25 | 5 | 10 | 15 | -3 | 12 |
| Paul Ranger | 42 | 2 | 11 | 13 | -5 | 56 |
| Adam Hall | 74 | 5 | 5 | 10 | -9 | 29 |
| Paul Szczechura | 31 | 4 | 5 | 9 | -1 | 12 |
| Gary Roberts | 30 | 4 | 3 | 7 | -11 | 27 |
| Matt Lashoff$^†$ | 12 | 0 | 7 | 7 | -7 | 10 |
| Radim Vrbata | 18 | 3 | 3 | 6 | -1 | 8 |
| Ryan Craig | 54 | 2 | 4 | 6 | -7 | 60 |
| Steve Downie$^†$ | 23 | 3 | 3 | 6 | +2 | 54 |
| Marek Malik | 42 | 0 | 5 | 5 | -3 | 36 |
| Josef Melichar$^†$ | 24 | 0 | 5 | 5 | +1 | 29 |
| Martins Karsums$^†$ | 18 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -5 | 6 |
| Matt Smaby | 43 | 0 | 4 | 4 | -11 | 50 |
| Richard Petiot | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 | +5 | 21 |
| Vladimir Mihalik | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 | -3 | 6 |
| Janne Niskala | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Chris Gratton$^‡$ | 18 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -3 | 10 |
| Jamie Heward$^‡$ | 13 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -1 | 4 |
| David Koci$^†$ | 33 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +3 | 132 |
| Matt Carle$^‡$ | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | +1 | 6 |
| Mike Lundin | 25 | 0 | 2 | 2 | -4 | 4 |
| Brandon Bochenski | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -3 | 2 |
| Zenon Konopka | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -1 | 29 |
| Radek Smolenak | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | +1 | 10 |
| Ty Wishart | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kevin Quick | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jason Ward | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Andrew Hutchinson$^‡$ | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -5 | 0 |
| Brandon Segal | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shane O'Brien$^‡$ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |
| Noah Welch$^†$ | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -4 | 14 |
| Geoff Kinrade | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular season :
| Player | GP | Min | W | L | OT | GA | GAA | SA | SV | Sv% | SO |
| Mike Smith | 41 | 2471 | 14 | 18 | 9 | 108 | 2.62 | 1282 | 1174 | .916 | 2 |
| Karri Ramo | 24 | 1311 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 80 | 3.66 | 756 | 676 | .894 | 0 |
| Mike McKenna | 15 | 775 | 4 | 8 | 1 | 46 | 3.56 | 406 | 360 | .887 | 1 |
| Olaf Kolzig$^‡$ | 8 | 410 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 25 | 3.66 | 245 | 220 | .898 | 0 |
| Riku Helenius | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 2 | 2 | 1.000 | 0 |
$^†$Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Lightning. Stats reflect season totals. $^‡$Traded mid-season Bold/italics denotes franchise record

## Awards and records
### Milestones

Regular Season :
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| Steven Stamkos | 1st NHL Game | October 4, 2008 |
| Steven Stamkos | 1st NHL Assist 1st NHL Point | October 28, 2008 |
| Steven Stamkos | 1st NHL Goal | October 30, 2008 |
| Steven Stamkos | 1st NHL Hat Trick | February 17, 2009 |

## Transactions
### Trades

| July 4, 2008 | To Tampa Bay Matt Carle Ty Wishart 1st-round pick in 2009 – Kyle Palmieri 4th-round pick in 2010 – James Mullin | To San Jose Dan Boyle Brad Lukowich |
| August 29, 2008 | To Tampa Bay Andrej Meszaros | To Ottawa Senators Filip Kuba Alexandre Picard 1st-round pick in 2009 – Kyle Palmieri |
| September 29, 2008 | To Tampa Bay Conditional 6th-round pick in 2009 – Jaroslav Janus | To Nashville Predators Nick Tarnasky |
| October 6, 2008 | To Tampa Bay Lukas Krajicek Juraj Simek | To Vancouver Canucks Shane O'Brien Michel Ouellet |
| November 7, 2008 | To Tampa Bay Steve Eminger Steve Downie 4th-round pick in 2009 – Alex Hutchings | To Philadelphia Flyers Matt Carle 3rd-round pick in 2009 – Simon Bertilsson |
| November 25, 2008 | To Tampa Bay Future Considerations | To Phoenix Coyotes Wyatt Smith |
| November 30, 2008 | To Tampa Bay Lauri Tukonen | To Dallas Stars Andrew Hutchinson |
| February 7, 2009 | To Tampa Bay Wade Brookbank Josef Melichar 4th-round pick in 2009 (pick ultimately forfeited) | To Carolina Hurricanes Jussi Jokinen |
| March 4, 2009 | To Tampa Bay Matt Lashoff Martins Karsums | To Boston Bruins Mark Recchi 2nd-round pick in 2010 – Alex Petrovic |

### Free agents

| Player | Former team | Contract Terms |
| Adam Hall | Pittsburgh Penguins | 3 years, $1.8 million |
| Olaf Kolzig | Washington Capitals | 1 year, $1.5 million |
| Radim Vrbata | Phoenix Coyotes | 3 years, $9 million |
| Mark Recchi | Atlanta Thrashers | 1 year, $1.25 million |
| David Koci | Chicago Blackhawks | 1 year, $525,000 |
| Brandon Bochenski | Nashville Predators | 2 years |
| Marek Malik | New York Rangers | 1 year, $1.25 million |
| Player | New team |
| Marc Denis | Montreal Canadiens |
| Junior Lessard | Atlanta Thrashers |
| Craig MacDonald | Columbus Blue Jackets |
| Doug Janik | Chicago Blackhawks |

### Claimed from waivers

| Player | Former team | Date claimed off waivers |
| Matt Pettinger | Vancouver Canucks | October 21, 2008 |
| Cory Murphy | Florida Panthers | January 19, 2009 |

## Draft picks

Tampa Bay entered the NHL Draft Lottery with a 48.8% chance of winning the lottery after stumbling to a 31–42–9 record in the regular season. The Lightning finished last in the league just four years after winning their first Stanley Cup.
Tampa Bay's picks at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft in Ottawa, Ontario.
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | Nationality | Club Team |
| 1 | 1 | Steven Stamkos | (C) | Canada | Sarnia Sting (OHL) |
| 4 | 117 (from San Jose) | James Wright | (C) | Canada | Vancouver Giants (WHL) |
| 5 | 122 | Dustin Tokarski | (G) | Canada | Spokane Chiefs (WHL) |
| 5 | 147 (from San Jose) | Kyle De Coste | (RW) | Canada | Brampton Battalion (OHL) |
| 6 | 152 | Mark Barberio | (D) | Canada | Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) |
| 6 | 160 (from Florida via Chicago) | Luke Witkowski | (D) | United States | Ohio Junior Blue Jackets (USHL) |
| 7 | 182 | Matias Sointu | (RW) | Finland | Ilves (Finland Jr.) |
| 7 | 203 (from Anaheim) | David Carle | (D) | United States | Shattuck-Saint Mary's (USHS-MN) |