Rumor: Lightning set to lose a big piece of their blue line.

It sounds like there's about to be another very well established veteran on the free agent market this summer. 

According to a report from TSN National Hockey League insider Pierre LeBrun multiple NHL organizations have used the unrestricted free agent interview window, a window that opened up on Sunday, to reach out to current Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman. Now that in and of itself does not necessarily indicate that Stralman will head into the free agency period, however it sounds like the Stralman camp is already moving towards that phase of the offseason.

LeBrun's source for this information is presumably Stralman's agent Marc Levine as LeBrun referenced him directly when reporting the information. It now appears that Stralman, or at least his agent, will be meeting with multiple teams over the next several days. From LeBrun:

"A number of teams reached out to pending unrestricted free agent right handed defenseman Anton Stralman today," wrote LeBrun. "His agent Marc Levine says next step is to iron out the interview schedule."

It has to be said that this could very well be a negotiating ploy on the part of Stralman's camp and Levine, the timing of the news on the evening of the interview window opening seems too much of a coincidence. It's also worth noting that Stralman is coming off a serious injury this season, he fractured his left fibula and missed all but 47 games during the 2018 - 2019 NHL regular season and that may have resulted in somewhat less interest in his services. 

In spite of that Stralman remains a solid fixture on the blue line and one that boast just under 750 games of NHL experience. The 32 year old former Toronto Maple Leafs 7th round draft pick (216th overall) at the 2005 NHL Entry Draft has defied the odds during his career and still has plenty left to give in spit of already being well into his 30s. Over his 749 game career Stralman has 47 goals and 195 assists for a total of 242 points.