What will Lightning do with cap space this summer?
The Tampa Bay Lightning are in an unfamiliar position: they have plenty of players under contract and a whole lot of salary cap space to bolster the team if general manager Julien BriseBois deems it beneficial.
The Bolts have been in salary cap hell for years as they competed for the Stanley Cup year in and year out while the salary cap is flat, but prudent management and the cap going up have changed the game for BriseBois this summer.
According to PuckPedia, Tampa Bay has just over $13 million in space under the upper limit of the salary cap with 14 forwards, 7 defensemen and a pair of goaltenders signed to contracts for next season.
On Friday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed what BriseBois could do this summer with some newfound financial flexibility.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Offseason preview… today the team is the Tampa Bay Lightning… They sit with around $13 million in cap space, right in that range that Colorado is, but here’s the difference, they have seven defensemen and 14 forwards on their roster. They’re kind of sitting there, Julien BriseBois, he’s got the fun money to play with if he wants to. Whoever he goes out and adds, he can spend $10 million on a forward, spend potentially $10 million on John Carlson which is the hot rumor that’s floating around, but what else do you think the Tampa Bay Lightning want to look to do here in the next little while?
Carter Hutton: I think obviously on the defensemen, I worry about Carlson just because of the age and a depleted core now with McDonagh getting older, Hedman having probably one of the least seasons where was on the ice. I think Cernak is probably shooting a little bit above his pay grade where he’s at. I think he’s a valuable player, but you need a piece there that’s going to work. I think J.J. Moser has really turned into a great defenseman, so losing Raddysh is one you kind of live with. I think Moser can step in and play a better role throughout this team, but then where you look up front, I don’t really think you have a ton of pieces to move up into the lineup. I think Dominic James played well last year. I think Goncalves… he played very well for them in the playoffs. I think that’s reassuring, but now it’s a fact of looking at this free agency market and just being a little bit status quo because of the arms race that’s going on in the Atlantic. I would be nervous to overpay or over-trade for a guy right now.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…