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Andrej Sustr

Free Agent Focus: Tampa Bay Lightning

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Free agency is now less than a day from opening up and there are quite a few prominent players set to hit the open market while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign. Here is a breakdown of Tampa Bay’s free agent situation.

Key Restricted Free Agent: F Cedric Paquette — Nine points hardly seems like a lot of points for key restricted free agent, but the 24-year-old Paquette isn’t about offense. The defense-first forward has been a key part of the team’s bottom-six line, which included Ryan Callahan and Kunitz line that was constantly put against opponents’ top lines. Now that he’s been qualified, Paquette, who scored just five goals during the regular season (and one in the playoffs) might be more needed than ever with Kunitz likely headed elsehere. Regardless, he could be in line for a significant raise after making $812K last year on his two-year bridge deal. Now with arbitration rights, he could walk away with quite a bit more.

D Slater Koekkoek — The 24-year-old blueliner has worked hard to try and break into the deep defensive core of Tampa Bay and did manage to get into 34 games last season and avoid a trip down to the Syracuse Crunch, but Koekkoek’s usefulness came to an end after Tampa Bay acquired Ryan McDonagh at the trade deadline. From that point on, he appeared in just three regular season games and did not appear in the playoffs. While the team intends to bring him back, recent rumors that the team might consider trading the youngster are also a possibility. He made $800K last year on a one-year deal.

Other RFA’s: F Adam Erne.

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: Andrej Sustr — The 27-year-old depth defender could easily find himself on a new team with the amount of defenders under contract in Tampa Bay. The blueliner had been a regular on the Lightning’s defense over the past three years, but he found himself often a healthy scratch with the addition of players like Mikhail Sergachev, Jake Dotchin, Koekkoek as well as McDonagh. After making $1.95MM last season in the last of his restricted free agent years, the team must decide if they want to bring back the undrafted free agent they signed back in 2013.

Chris Kunitz — The 38-year-old winger was a big part of the Lightning’s shutdown line along with Callahan and Paquette in his one year with Tampa Bay, but there is little indication that Kunitz is expected return. Despite a productive season in which he tallied 13 goals and 29 points last season, rumors suggest he’s interested in a possible return to Pittsburgh.

Other UFA’s: D Mat Bodie, F Erik Condra, F Alex Gallant, D Jamie McBain, F Matthew Peca.

Projected Cap Space: The Lightning don’t have much cap space to work with this offseason as the team has just $5.3MM. On top of that, Tampa Bay has quite a few free agents they must deal with next year including Nikita Kucherov, McDonagh and Yanni Gourde to name a few, so they need to have as much cap room to maneuver with as possible. Despite their interest in John Tavares, don’t expect the team to dip heavily in the free agent market this year and more likely depend on their AHL depth to carry them through.

Snapshots: Kunitz, Cameron, Anderson

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have some tough decisions to make this summer as they try to decide how to improve and get them to the next level, and Joe Smith of The Athletic (subscription required) examines the future of every player on the roster in his latest piece. When it comes to Chris Kunitz, who is one of the team’s few players scheduled for unrestricted free agency, Smith relays some comments from agent Ben Hankinson:

There’s no quit in [Kunitz]. He loved everything about the city, the team, the fans, and the direction they’re going. He’s wired for another run.

Kunitz, 38, registered 29 points for the second regular season in a row, but couldn’t find any of that playoff magic he had in Pittsburgh and Anaheim. Held to just a single assist in 17 postseason contests, it might be time for the Lightning to move on from the veteran winger. Whether they do is unclear at this point, but Smith does believe that Andrej Sustr, the only other roster player scheduled for UFA status, is as good as gone this summer. The towering defenseman played only 44 games in the regular season and was held out of the playoffs for the team.

  • Frank Seravalli of TSN reports that Dave Cameron, former Ottawa Senators head coach and recently a Calgary Flames assistant, has taken a job with the Vienna Capitals in Austria for next season. Cameron was a long time junior and minor league head coach, but will now journey to Europe for the next chapter in his professional career. We’ve seen it work for other NHL coaches in the past, including Marc Crawford who spent four years in Switzerland before returning to the NHL, and Bob Hartley who won a championship in Switzerland and recently had been leading the Latvian national team. Hartley is now headed to the KHL, another option for Cameron down the road if he isn’t given another opportunity in the NHL.
  • Speaking of coaches leaving for other opportunities, Michael Russo of The Athletic reports that Minnesota Wild assistant coach John Anderson will not have his contract renewed. Anderson had come with the team alongside Bruce Boudreau two years ago, but will have to find another landing spot for the next part of his coaching career. A four-time 30-goal scorer during his playing days, Anderson was a long-time head coach of the Chicago Wolves and secured two Calder Cups for the team during his time in the AHL.

Injury Notes: Schneider, Hanzal, McDonagh

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The New Jersey Devils went out and bought at the trade deadline, to try and help Taylor Hall and company into the playoffs for the first time since losing in the Stanley Cup Finals six years ago. Adding Michael Grabner and Patrick Maroon however might have not meant anything if they couldn’t rely on their goaltending, a position that will get a huge boost tonight.

Though Keith Kinkaid has been excellent of late, Cory Schneider will return to the crease for the first time January 23rd tonight when the Devils take on the Florida Panthers. Schneider hasn’t had the Vezina-caliber season he’s capable of, but is still likely the team’s best option in net down the stretch and into the playoffs. The 31-year old goaltender has little experience in the postseason, starting just six games for the Vancouver Canucks during the early part of his career.

  • Martin Hanzal had been dubbed “day-to-day for the rest of the season” by the Dallas Stars, but now things may be even worse for the big-bodied center. Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News reports that Hanzal’s back injury is now “week-to-week” and that he’s not skating with the team. That’s a tough blow for a team that didn’t do anything at the deadline to improve their center depth, and currently sits in danger of falling out of a playoff spot. Dallas is in the top wildcard position in the Western Conference, but have four teams within three points behind them.
  • Ryan McDonagh hasn’t made his debut with the Tampa Bay Lightning after being acquired just before the deadline passed, but was skating with the team today according to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times. To many fans surprise, Andrej Sustr will likely remain in the lineup when the Lightning take on the Stars tonight, a spot that is being held warm for McDonagh when he returns from his minor injury. Though they obviously would love his help to try and secure the top seed in the Atlantic Division, McDonagh was acquired for his potential impact in this year’s playoffs. In 96 career playoff games, McDonagh has averaged nearly 26 minutes a night, recorded 223 blocked shots and put up 41 points.

Devils’ Miles Wood Suspended Two Games For Boarding

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1:01 p.m. — The Department of Player Safety have suspended Wood for two games for boarding Namestnikov.

8:53 a.m. — The Department of Player Safety announced they will hold a hearing today for the New Jersey Devils Miles Wood for his boarding of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Vladislav Namestnikov during Saturday’s game. Watch the video here.

Early in the second period, Wood appeared to leave his feet and delivered a hit to Namestnikov from behind, sending his head into the boards. To make matters worse, Tampa Bay teammate Andrej Sustr attempted to come to Namestnikov’s aid, but instead took a punch to the visor and sustained a bloody face.

Wood, who has had no previous suspensions, was given a two-minute minor penalty for boarding. He also received a two-minute minor for roughing for the fight with Sustr, which the Tampa Bay defenseman also received. To make matters worse for Tampa Bay, Wood also scored the game-winning goal.

Lightning Believed To Be Shopping Andrej Sustr

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As one of the many teams that are currently carrying eight defensemen, Tampa Bay is believed to be shopping blueliner Andrej Sustr around the league, notes Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times.  Sustr is now in his sixth season with the organization after signing with the team as an undrafted college free agent back in 2013.

In his time with the Lightning, Sustr has primarily been a depth defender, never averaging more than 17:42 per game in a season.  However, he had been a regular for most of the last three years which helped earn him a one-year, $1.95MM contract this summer.

However, he has played in just one game so far this season in large part due to a trio of youngsters on the roster in Jake Dotchin, Slater Koekkoek, and offseason acquisition Mikhail Sergachev.  Dotchin and Koekkoek aren’t exempt from waivers while Sergachev, their top prospect, isn’t eligible to play in the AHL just yet and is arguably too good to return to the junior ranks so he’s expected to stay for at least a while yet which potentially makes Sustr, a pending unrestricted free agent, the odd man out.  Worth noting, their other four defensemen have either a full no-trade or no-move clause.

More from Tampa:

  • The team has activated defenseman Dominik Masin off Season-Opening Injured Reserve and assigned him to Syracuse of the AHL according to the AHL’s Transactions page. As he was not with the team at any point last season, Masin was not counting against their salary cap while on SOIR; forwards Carter Verhaeghe and Jonne Tammela are in the same situation.  Masin played in 69 games with Syracuse last season in primarily a third-pairing role while also suiting up in all 22 postseason contests.

2017 NHL Free Agency Tracker

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Stay with PHR for all of the free agency signings this off-season. As of noon ET on July 1st, unrestricted free agency is open, but not before many extensions earlier in June. This page serves to organize everything in one spot, and are linked to the PHR story that corresponds with the signing. All July signings will be separated by date while June signings are organized alphabetically by team. It will be updated as soon as stories post.

Please note that signings on this list start on June 12.

July 1st:

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Yanni Gourde Signs With Tampa Bay Lightning

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After inking Andrej Sustr to a contract extension, the Tampa Bay Lightning have also signed Yanni Gourde to a two-year one-way deal. The deal will pay him $1MM per season, and take him to unrestricted free agency in 2019. Gourde was coming off a two-way, minimum salary contract last season and was a pending Group VI unrestricted free agent.

Gourde has had an interesting path to the NHL, going undrafted out of junior before scoring 124 points in 68 games during his final year for the Victoriaville Tigres. That over-aged explosion earned him a few looks in the AHL before finally signing an entry-level contract in 2014. The 25-year old could have signed with anyone, but told Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times that the Lightning “gave [him] a chance.” Overlooked no more,  Gourde played 20 games in the NHL this season and recorded eight points. Though undersized, he’s proven that he can still be an effective player at the highest level, and now will likely get a shot at playing a more regular role.

Gourde and Sustr represent some of the least important free agents for the Lightning, but still have considerable impact on the fringes of the roster. Finding capable NHL talent for reasonable prices is a big part of keeping your expensive core in tact, as teams like Chicago and Pittsburgh have found out over the years. With the Lightning poised to compete next season if they can stay healthy, getting cost-certainty with contracts like this is an important first step to the offseason.

Marc Antoine Godin of La Presse was first to break the signing.

Tampa Bay Lightning Re-Sign Andrej Sustr

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have come to terms with one of their depth defensemen, inking Andrej Sustr to a one-year, $1.95MM contract. Sustr was one of the team’s restricted free agents that was due a qualifying offer by today’s deadline.

Over the past few seasons, Sustr has turned into a quality option for the Lightning, icing him for around 17 minutes a night and using his huge 6’7″ frame and reach to defend responsibly. The new contract comes as a $0.5MM cap increase, and will take Sustr to unrestricted free agency next season. That is nice fit for Sustr, who with another solid season could see himself as a fairly sought-after commodity next summer.

In 274 NHL games, Sustr has recorded 56 points and is generally regarded as a fairly solid defender. His possession numbers point to an improving shot suppression skill, and at just 26 he still has time to refine his game somewhat. Though he’ll likely find himself on the third pairing for most of the season, there is a chance he can move into a bigger role should the Lightning not add another right-handed defenseman. With the team currently relying on a consistent sophomore season from Jake Dotchin, Sustr will provide some stability behind the youngster.

Tampa Bay, who a few months ago likely couldn’t have afforded to keep Sustr, now have him locked in to a reasonable cap hit and can turn their attention to the large remaining group of free agents. Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Dotchin headline a group that could take a good chunk of the summer to get under contract. With just over $20MM remaining to spend, the Lightning could also be a dark horse contender for a big name free agent should they choose to pursue one.

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