Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times expects the Tampa Bay Lightning to make a trade in the near future to cut costs as they try to find room to sign pending free agent captain Steven Stamkos to a contract extension. The Lightning are up against the cap with just $5.335MM in cap space and have just 18 active roster players signed for next season.
Encina looks at the contracts of Tanner Jeannot and Erik Cernak as possibilities to move on from. Jeannot has struggled since coming over from Nashville for five draft picks and Callan Foote and is slated to make $2.665MM next year, while Cernak is owed $5.2MM. Jeannot seems like the likelier of the two to be moved as he has just a year left on his contract at half the cost and has already been linked to multiple teams.
In other Eastern Conference notes:
- Nick Kypreos speculates in the Toronto Star that the Toronto Maple Leafs have interest in pending free agent forward Jake DeBrusk. The 27-year-old has haunted the Maple Leafs in the playoffs could slide into the team’s top six if they don’t bring back Max Domi or Tyler Bertuzzi. DeBrusk is coming off a disappointing season with the Boston Bruins, tallying just 19 goals and 21 assists in 80 games. However, the Edmonton, Alberta native is just a year removed from a 27-goal season and has surpassed 25 goals on three separate occasions.
- Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported on 32 Thoughts that he believes that a big holdup on the Linus Ullmark trade is a potential contract extension being worked out. Friedman points out that a lot of teams aren’t interested in paying the Bruins high asking price for a goaltender that would only be a rental and would like an extension in place before making the deal. Friedman also notes that in the case of a team like the Ottawa Senators, he would have to waive his no-trade clause and likely work out an extension with the team to make the trade happen. Boston has held firm on their asking price in recent weeks but might have to adjust it as some teams that were in on Ullmark have already addressed their goaltending situation, and there are other potential available options on the market.
Hey, did you ever hear the one about Jeannot being traded for 5 draft picks, lol! :D
Yeah, the trade didn’t work out for the most part as Jeannot just hasn’t panned out to the level many expected but it is what it is as things happen. BriseBois was a little over aggressive on that trade acquisition but BriseBois hits more than misses in his transactions overall.
Tanner Jeannot will be moved more than likely & Conor Sheary could be moved or given a buyout. Also, there has been rumblings of shipping out Nick Perbix as well. TBL will create cap space as they are one of the most savvy organizations in the NHL.
As for Steven Stamkos, TBL will get him signed as the belief around the league even from the GMs at the Scouting Combine have said Stamkos is staying in TBL. If GMs are saying it, then they know a deal is being worked out as GMs talk to player’s agents even though it’s against league rules but everyone knows GMs find ways to get fliers on things before it’s remotely close to being announced to the public.
Jeannot still deserves a full season. His hitting and physicality is something pretty much no other Lightning player has. Also, when he scored the 24 goals in his rookie season, he was playing on the upper lines, and hes been resigned to the bottom 2 lines, where he has no chance of scoring 24 goals.