"Lightning-land has become somewhat of a resurrection ground for a handful of former New York Islanders.

On Saturday, Tampa Bay tapped back into that pipeline hoping to continue the trend, acquiring 25-year-old defenseman Bruno Gervais from the Islanders for future considerations. Gervais, a former sixth-round pick by New York in 2003, is scheduled to be a restricted free agent on July 1.

Former Islanders Nate Thompson and Sean Bergenheim found success with the Lightning last season and goaltender Dwayne Roloson, acquired from New York in January, was a big key to Tampa Bay reaching the Eastern Conference finals.

Now Gervais, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound native of Longueuil, Quebec, hopes to continue that string as he looks to jumpstart a career that appeared to be stagnant last season with New York. During an injury-plagued season, he had six assists and was minus-14 while being limited to 53 games because of a broken orbital bone suffered in a fight.

"I didn't have the year I wanted last year, and sometimes in a career a fresh start is the best thing you can have,'' Gervais said. "And there is nothing better than starting fresh with a solid organization like Tampa Bay, from the top to the bottom everyone there seems to be on the right track and heading in the right direction.

"I'm really excited to join this mix, and this is a team that is going for the Cup and I'm really happy to jump on board and I'll do whatever it takes to help.''

In junior hockey and in the American Hockey League, Gervais had strong offensive numbers, once scoring 22 goals and 50 points in juniors and 17 goals with Bridgeport of the AHL during the 2005-06 season. But he brings more of a jack-of-all-trades style — he does a lot of things well but doesn't have one particular strength. He skates well, moves the puck well, is competent in his end and is a right-handed shot, which is an area the Lightning were lacking on the blue line.

Tampa Bay hopes to get that entire package and elevate his strengths."