I know we've gone through this before, but just a reminder of what the negotiations between Oren Koules and Palace Sports & Entertainment mean to the Lightning roster. I guess the best way to say it is everything ... and nothing.

General manager Jay Feaster has said one of the reasons Koules wants the Lightning is the core players of Vinny Lecavalier, Marty St. Louis, Brad Richards and Dan Boyle. If that is the case, and I believe that it is, it would be foolish for the Lightning, no matter how it struggles, to make deals for any of those players while negotiations are ongoing. So view with skepticism anything you read or hear concerning trade rumors about those guys as long as the sides are talking.

Boyle, of course, is a different story because of his injury and because could be an unrestricted free agent, though it would seem he fits into the broader notion of trying to keep the core together.

Oh, and, by the way, the Norfolk Admirals web site and the Lightning's Thursday game notes (and my story today) had Karrie Ramo's last name pronounced RAY-moh. Wrong, the goalie said. It is RAH-moh.