Cory Sarich teamed with Nolan Pratt to take on the opposition's best offensive players. Eric Perrin was a good defensive player, quick, smart, could kill penalties. Okay, so he couldn't finish anything Brad Richards put on his stick and was slotted next season as a fourth-line center, but he was versatile and filled a lot of holes.

Is one loss worse than the other or is it impossible to compare two completely different job descriptions? The bottom line, was the first day of free agency, with the Lightning feeling it has perhaps solved its second-line woes with the signing of Michel Ouellet, a success, a failure (because of the losses of Sarich and Perrin) or six of one?