Ondrej Palat

Oft-Injured Teams Likely To Rebound In 2017-18

August 8, 2017 at 6:13 pm CDT | by Seth Lawrence Leave a Comment

Every year, some teams invariably get the short straw when it comes to injury. The Washington Capitals, notably, were the healthiest team in the league, and ended up winning the Presidents’ Trophy. That said, organizational depth is absolutely vital, as the Penguins survived well enough to repeat championships, even though they were bottom-5 in man games lost. Ultimately, there are a few franchises that are merely anticipating a restart in 2017-18, in hopes of entirely forgetting the abuses of last season. These three teams are those which suffered the worst, and have a solid chance to rebound in the upcoming campaign.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning lost Steven Stamkos for the majority of the season after he was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in November. He missed an astounding total of 65 games. Ryan Callahan was also lost for the majority of the year, losing 64 games of action to a lower-body injury. After that, the onslaught of injuries kept hammering away. Nikita Kucherov only lost 8 games, but was felled on three separate occasions. Ondrej Palat missed only 9 games as well, but his presence was sorely missed when absent. Cedric Paquette lost 23 games, while Tyler Johnson missed 16. It seemed that no one was safe on Tampa’s squad more man-games than an other teams when you factor in essentially retired players.

Tampa will look to remain healthy this season, after an incredibly unlucky venture in 2016-17. They have the depth to endure losses, but the sheer carnage last season was too catastrophic to overcome. Still, they finished only one point out of the final wild card spot. They could easily have squeaked into the playoffs and inflicted serious damage. This year, as long as the fates turn their way, they should be right back in the competitive mix.

Winnipeg Jets

Tyler Myers lost out on the bulk of the season, only playing in 11 contests. As a big component of the team’s defense, he will need to be back to peak performance if the Jets hope to stop some of the bleeding in their own end of the ice. Center Bryan Little lost 23 games to a lower-body injury, while Shawn Matthias missed 37 contests to an upper-body ailment. Not a single player survived the entire year without succumbing to some sort of injury or sickness, and the team as a whole struggled to find a consistent groove with so many bodies filling in and falling out.

The Jets need consistent goaltending and less obnoxiously aggressive defense if they hope to reach the post-season again. That said, simply remaining healthy will go a long way in transforming Winnipeg into a dangerous team. Mark Scheifele was absolutely dominant last season, and with reliable depth behind him, only good results lie ahead. The Central is also slightly less intimidating this year, even with Dallas making as many transactions as they did. Nashville and Chicago both took steps backward, the Blues remained relatively the same, while the Wild made lateral moves.

Vancouver Canucks

Vancouver will have a tough time entering the playoff conversation. In the relatively weak Pacific however, anything can happen. The Sedin twins are another year older, and GM Jim Benning hasn’t acquired any game-breakers in the off-season (Michael Del Zotto doesn’t count). Still, when a team loses over 300 man-games to injury in a year, things should theoretically improve the following year. Admittedly, some of their most heavily injured players were nominal players, like Derek Dorsett (68 lost) and Anton Rodin (79 lost). Still, they missed the presence of multiple depth players at a time and ultimately relied too heavily upon call-ups to crawl through the year. Jannik Hansen (39 lost), Chris Tanev (29 lost), and Erik Gudbranson (52 lost) are far from world-beaters, but on a team as thin at both offense and defense as the Canucks, their losses were unsustainable.

It remains to be seen how much of an impact general health will play for the Canucks. They still need their top players to find consistent production, and their younger players (Bo Horvat, Sven Baertschi) must continue to progress. That said, with a little luck, they might find themselves somewhere near the mix yet again. With new coach Travis Green and a fresh beginning, perhaps there is one more Wild Card berth left in a team that has been prolonging their inevitable full-on rebuild.

Could Tampa Bay Package Johnson, Palat For Tavares?

July 16, 2017 at 1:30 pm CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 6 Comments

Don’t be surprised if the Tampa Bay Lightning attempt to flip their recently signed restricted free agents within the next year. At least that’s what the New York Post’s Larry Brooks believes will happen. He writes the long-term signings of Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat are likely going to be part of a package the Lightning will eventually make for New York Islanders’ John Tavares at some point next season if the Islanders can’t sign him.

While the Islanders have said they are not trading the veteran, there is growing concern that the 26-year-old is not happy with the franchise and might be ready to move on. The Islanders’ center is coming off a 28-goal season last year with 38 assists for 66 points. While the Islanders should get credit for doing everything they can to keep one of their stars after losing former star Kyle Okposo to Buffalo for nothing, Brooks believes they will be sellers near the trade deadline to avoid another major loss. He compares the situation to Tampa Bay’s worries about losing Steven Stamkos a year ago. In that situation, the Lightning were able to lock up their star to an eight-year deal, but this isn’t the same. The Lightning were a successful franchise and were loaded with talent. That’s not really the case with the Islanders. With stadium issues and a team that has struggled off and on, it wouldn’t be surprising if Tavares was looking at better options.

The undrafted Johnson has shown quite a bit of promise over the years although his numbers have dropped in the last couple of years. The 26-year-old center put up a 29-goal season two years ago, but finished this year with 19 goals and 26 assists in 66 games. Johnson’s seven-year, $35MM deal ($5MM AAV) could keep him in New York for a long time. Palat has quite a bit of similarities to Johnson as he is 26 as well and was not expected to be a top prospect as he was just a seventh-round pick in 2011. The left wing also started strong and has taken a step back from there, putting up 23 goals in his first full season with the Lightning. He still put up solid numbers last year, scoring 17 goals and 35 assists for 52 points. His five-year, $26.5MM deal is worth $5.3MM annually.

Although Tampa Bay might even have to offer more to get a player like Tavares, the deal would also work because both Johnson and Palat have no trade clauses that will kick in next July, so if the plan may be to package them for a star player, this next year will be their best opportunity to make a deal like that happen. On top of that, moving the two of them for Tavares could be a wash, salary-wise as the Islanders star could be asking for a contract in the $10MM range next year.

Johnson, Palat Signings Likely To Factor In Rangers Negotiations With Zibanejad

July 16, 2017 at 9:37 am CDT | by Holger Stolzenberg 2 Comments

With Mika Zibanejad’s arbitration hearing scheduled just nine days from now, the real question is whether the New York Rangers plan on locking up their young center before that time. With the loss of center Derek Stepan and the lack of depth at the center position, the need for Zibanejad is even more evident and locking up the 24-year-old to a long-term deal would be important as his value should only increase if he goes through arbitration and accepts a one-year deal.

Zibanejad was the key piece to the trade that the Rangers received for trading veteran center Derick Brassard one year ago to Ottawa. The promising playmaker had two solid seasons with Ottawa before New York acquired the former 2011 sixth-overall pick. Had it not been for a broken leg, Zibanejad would have easily duplicated his performance this year in his first season for New York. He managed to play 56 games and score 14 goals and add 23 assists on the season.

Yet now, some key decision-making must be made by Rangers’ brass as to what to offer the young playmaker. The New York Posts’ Larry Brooks writes that the team should look to the recent contracts that the Tampa Bay Lightning handed out to Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat. Johnson just signed a seven-year deal that pays him $5MM annually and Palat was locked up to a five-year contract, worth $5.3MM per year. That’s a starting point. And according to Brooks, both Johnson and Palat are slightly more productive players. Palat has averaged .71 points per game, while Johnson .68 points per game. Zibanejad has averaged just .56 points per game in his career and has been less successful in playoff games as well. Therefore, Brooks suggests that he should be receiving somewhat less money than the Tampa Bay duo, perhaps at $4.8MM per season. The general belief is the Rangers may play it tough in negotiations with Zibanejad since he left respected Newport Sports Agency to use his half-brother to negotiate with.

The key to the negotiations will most likely come down to how many years they can get Zibanejad to sign for. The general belief is that he wants as short of a deal that he can get, because even an average season or two should produce an even better contract in a year or two. Toss in the possibility that with newly signed free agent Kevin Shattenkirk on board, the defense should contribute even more on offense and be more of a benefit to Zibanejad’s play. However, the Rangers will be far more interested in locking him up for five years. So how much more will New York have to offer him to get this deal done. Afterall, no Ranger has reached arbitration since 2007 when Sean Avery and Nikolai Zherdev.

Ondrej Palat Signs Five-Year Contract

July 14, 2017 at 3:25 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

The Tampa Bay Lightning continue to lock up their core pieces, signing Ondrej Palat to a five-year contract worth $26.5MM. The contract will have an average annual salary of $5.3MM, but the breakdown of the deal is as follows:

2017-18: $5.6MM
2018-19: $6.855MM
2019-20: $5.3MM
2020-21: $3.445MM
2021-22: $5.3MM

This comes on the heels of a seven-year extension for linemate Tyler Johnson, that will see him earn $5MM per season. The fact that Palat comes in a tick ahead of him in terms of salary is a direct result of the length of the contract, as the two have very similar rates of production (though admittedly at different positions).

In the past twelve months (and change), Lightning GM Steve Yzerman has given out long-term deals to Palat, Johnson, Alex Killorn, Victor Hedman and Steven Stamkos, while also getting Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy under decently priced bridge deals that will keep them restricted free agents after they expire. All that, plus a heck of a lot of work to clear enough room for it all has the Lightning locked in to this group for quite a while, and will allow them to compete together for the Stanley Cup.

Palat, 26, is giving up four unrestricted free agent years in the deal and will do so at a reasonably priced cap hit. His production since joining the team full time has been excellent, with 218 points in 307 games. During that time he’s also received Selke votes as the league’s top defensive forward three times, and has registered excellent possession numbers throughout. With Jonathan Drouin gone to Montreal, the team will rely on Palat even more as a top offensive weapon and will give him ample powerplay time.

One of the best seventh-round picks in recent history, Palat has come a long way since his humble beginnings in the draft. Passed over completely after his first year in the QMJHL, the Czech winger was taken with the third last pick in 2011 even after scoring 96 points for Drummondville. In what has turned into arguably Yzerman’s best draft, Palat joined Vladislav Namestnikov, Kucherov and Nikita Nesterov on the Lightning’s board that day.

Palat was set to have a hearing on July 25th after filing for player-elected salary arbitration, but was always expected to sign a long-term deal beforehand. With all of the key RFAs now dealt with, Tampa Bay has just over $3.2MM left in cap space—an amazing feat considering the trouble they were in just a few months ago.

Craig Morgan of AZ Sports was first to report the deal, and give the salary breakdown.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

RFA Notes: Palat, Copp, McEneny

July 12, 2017 at 7:35 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Lightning GM Steve Yzerman told Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times that he is hopeful that he can reach an agreement with RFA winger Ondrej Palat in advance of his July 25th arbitration hearing. Tampa Bay locked up their other key restricted free agent on Monday with the re-signing of Tyler Johnson to a seven-year, $35MM contract.

There’s a good chance that Palat’s agent will be using that exact deal as a comparable in negotiations. The two are coming off statistically similar seasons (Palat averaged 0.69 points per game and Johnson 0.68) while their career numbers are virtually identical (Palat is at 0.71 PPG while Johnson checks in at 0.69). They also happen to be coming off the same three-year, $10MM deals as well. Cap space shouldn’t be an issue on this deal as the Lightning have just over $8.5MM in cap space at the moment per CapFriendly with Palat being the lone NHL restricted free agent still to re-sign.

The Jets have agreed to terms on a two-year contract with restricted free agent forward Andrew Copp, TSN’s Aaron Ward reports (Twitter link). CapFriendly tweets that the deal will pay him $900K in 2017-18 and $1.11MM in 2018-19. Copp spent the majority of 2016-17 with Winnipeg, collecting 17 points (9-8-7) while averaging 12:21 per night. He also added five assists in eight games with their AHL affiliate in Manitoba.
The Canucks announced the re-signing of defenseman Evan McEneny to a two-year, two-way contract. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. McEneny made his NHL debut with Vancouver this past season but primarily suited up with their AHL affiliate in Utica where he scored eight goals and 15 assists in 63 games.

RFA Arbitration Hearings Begin Soon

July 9, 2017 at 8:08 pm CDT | by Seth Lawrence Leave a Comment

Although it’s likely that many of these restricted free-agents come to terms with their teams before the hearing dates, the list of set dates has been released. Last year, only one RFA actually made it to their date without a deal. We should see more players actually make it to the arbitration process this year, but how many is unclear. It could be zero, or it could be five.

That said, these arbitration hearings begin in only 11 days, so the crunch is on. Teams will hope to hammer out details with players they hope to lock in for longer than two years. PHR published a preview highlighting players most likely to see a massive pay-raise, but arbitration by its nature can be rather capricious.

According theScore’s Cody Wilkins, the set dates are as follows:

July 20 – Tyler Johnson (Tampa Bay), Colton Parayko (St. Louis), Tomas Tatar (Detroit)

July 21 – Ryan Dzingel (Ottawa), Michael Chaput (Vancouver)

July 22 – Micheal Ferland (Calgary), Viktor Arvidsson (Nashville)

July 24 – Austin Watson (Nashville), Brian Dumoulin (Pittsburgh)

July 25 – Joey LaLeggia (Edmonton), Mika Zibanejad (NY Rangers), Ondrej Palat (Tampa Bay)

July 26 – Jordan Martinook (Arizona), Ryan Spooner (Boston)

July 27 – Robin Lehner (Buffal0), Marek Mazanec (Nashville)

July 28 – Jean-Gabriel Pageau (Ottawa)

July 31 – Matt Nieto (Colorado)

August 1 – Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg), Reid Boucher (Vancouver)

August 2 – Calvin de Haan (NY Islanders), Kevin Gravel (Los Angeles)

August 3 – Nate Schmidt (Vegas), Nino Niederreiter (Minnesota)

August 4 – Mikael Granlund (Minnesota), Conor Sheary (Pittsburgh), Nathan Beaulieu (Buffalo)

Leafs’ Cap Woes Not Yet Fatal

July 9, 2017 at 6:12 pm CDT | by Seth Lawrence 2 Comments

Much has been made by the Toronto media in recent months regarding the team’s future cap situation. Currently, they sit at $3.929 MM over the cap ceiling. That issue is relatively unimportant considering the players that will end up on long-term injured reserve, but the sudden pressure of being “in the red” has started to make analysts nervous about the team’s future. The man source of concern surrounds the three star youngsters, Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, and William Nylander, who will all need contracts before 2019-20. The 21 year-old Nylander’s RFA year is 2018-19 so his contract will be the first domino to fall.

Recently, Howard Berger penned an article proposing the necessity of moving on from one of Marner or Nylander due to impending budget restraints, and he ultimately advocated for the movement of the latter. The Toronto Star’s Damien Cox takes a more comprehensive look at the situation, but ultimately comes down with a fatalistic view of the situation – that it can only be rectified by abandoning one of these players in their primes. The author postulates that an approximate “37 percent of Toronto’s payroll” could be sacrificed to just that trio, estimating that the cap will rise only moderately (likely true).

There’s a very solid possibility that Toronto is overvaluing their own players’ worth a tad. There is also the incredible probability that one of the three may have a setback year, at least points-wise, which will bring a contract back down into reasonable territory. Matthews may not even make $10 MM on his first deal, and Marner and Nylander look to be only slightly more valuable collectively contract wise than say, Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat. Will the contracts be expensive? Absolutely. But will the three earn $30 MM combined? Not likely.

Ultimately, Toronto has difficult decisions ahead. Cox was correct in his assessment that Toronto is “going for it” now – the Patrick Marleau and depth player signings confirm that the team wants to compete in the short-term. But the long-term prospects probably don’t include sacrificing any of these players. With a combined cap devotion of slightly above 30%, the situation is entirely manageable. The go-to example for star-power, of course, should be the Pittsburgh Penguins who have successfully shuffled accessory pieces out as they begin to become overpaid. Their big three – Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang account for $25.45 MM of the team’s salary, a solid 34.8% of the allowable cap last season. Toronto fans shouldn’t start hitting the panic button, and internally the course ahead financially is likely already plotted. The team will need to find players on cheap contracts and hunt for bargains, while moving out older expensive pieces as the core group matures. Adding Marleau for a third season also wasn’t particularly helpful as 2019-20 will be the tightest fit. That said, Marner and Nylander shouldn’t start packing their bags just yet.

RFAs Headed For Payday In Arbitration

July 5, 2017 at 8:09 pm CDT | by Seth Lawrence 2 Comments

As the list of the players who have filed for arbitration was released earlier today by the NHLPA, a few names stick out as those due a meaningful raise. Arbitration is a tricky process to reliably predict, but it’s a safe bet these names will see their cap hit rise substantially.

Brian Dumoulin – D – Pittsburgh Penguins

There was a time when the young Dumoulin was a well-kept secret in the league, overshadowed by the far flashier play of Kris Letang. Dumoulin’s accolades this last playoff year certainly didn’t go unnoticed, and as the lone defensive defenseman in their core group, he probably holds the greatest job security on the team’s blueline. He doesn’t put up points – only one goal in the last two seasons, but he blocks shots and drives possession while eating a ton of minutes against top competition. As analytics are utilized more and more, his case only gets stronger. A contract well over $4 MM is certainly looking possible.

Colton Parayko – D – St. Louis Blues

This is the name seen most commonly associated with offer-sheets this summer, and with good reason. Parayko plays with the mentality of an old-time defenseman, but he can skate quite well for a large (6’6) man. He’s only had two seasons in the NHL, but he’s impressed since he first took the ice. Again, he isn’t a massive offensive force (he scored 3 goals last season), but he’s already averaging over 21 minutes a night with near equal starts in both the offensive and defensive zone. He’ll be hurt by the quantifiable stats factor, but he’s a big body with a rare right-handed shot to boot. This contract could look relatively cheap compared to his next, if he continues along this course. He should cost around $5.5 MM.

Ondrej Palat – F – Tampa Bay Lightning

Others will look to the undersized center Tyler Johnson as most likely to get a payday. But don’t over look Palat’s consistency – it may give him an edge with arbiters. Johnson does have his 72 point campaign to lean on, but that was now two full seasons ago. The fact that both players couldn’t break 20 goals in the last two seasons will bring their prices back down to Earth. Palat has grown into his role on the team and back-checks with a ferocity not often seen in younger stars. Johnson is no slouch either – they’ve both accumulated Selke votes over the years. These are two pivotal pieces of the Lightning, and their upcoming contracts were a big reason Jonathan Drouin was traded away to Montreal. GM Steve Yzerman will happily lock both up, but he will be hoping for figures under the $6 MM mark.

Viktor Arvidsson – F – Nashville Predators

This would have been an unlikely name on such a list even last December, when you consider how truly meteoric Arvidsson’s rise was. His value in arbitration will be deeply interesting – the shifty winger has played himself into the core of the team within a season. He really only has 2016-17 and the long playoff run to hang his hat on, as he scored only 16 points through 56 games in 2015-16. This year was a remarkable offensive explosion, with 30 goals and 31 assists. At only 5’9, Arvidsson has really shocked many onlookers by how easily he’s adapted to the physicality of the NHL game. His talent has never been in question, and with his production now well-established, it’s safe to believe he’s going to get a cushy award. How bad the damage will be is going to affect Nashville’s cap going forward – I suspect over $5 MM, but there are few comparables.

Mikael Granlund – F – Minnesota Wild

Granlund is perhaps slightly more enticing league wide than fellow Wild RFA Nino Niederreiter. He’s a marginally more cerebral player, and he plays the valuable center position. Neiderreiter is the more natural goal-scorer and larger frame, but Granlund has better PPG and has broken 30 assists thrice. Both players will get paid, as they both broke 25 goals last season and will be important pieces in the State of Hockey for some time. I think the more interesting thing to watch here is whether the Wild play it safe with Granlund and take a one year deal, or attempt to lock him up for longer. This was the first season he really scored with any consistency, but the Wild have shown their faith in the player by continually giving him over 17 minutes of icetime even when he struggled to produce. A one-year would easily command over $5 MM, whereas a longer deal could bring cost down.

Expansion Primer: Tampa Bay Lightning

June 16, 2017 at 8:47 pm CDT | by Nate Brown 3 Comments

We’re continuing to break down each team’s situation as it pertains to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, coming up next week: which players are eligible, and which will likely warrant protection or may be on the block. Each team is required to submit their protection lists by 4pm CDT on June 17th. The full rules on eligibility can be found here, and CapFriendly has provided a handy expansion tool to make your own lists.

Steve Yzerman fired the first shot in the pre-expansion draft trade market by acquiring Mikhail Sergachev from Montreal for Jonathan Drouin, a move that gave the Lightning flexibility both with the cap and their expansion protection list. It also filled a need with the Bolts on defense. With that in mind, it makes Yzerman and the Lightning’s decisions slightly easier as to who to protect and who to expose. But there are still some tough choices to make.

Eligible Players (Non-UFA)

Forwards: Steven Stamkos (NMC), Ryan Callahan (NMC), Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Vladislav Namestnikov, J.T. Brown, Erik Condra, Cedric Paquette, Ondrej Palat (RFA), Tyler Johnson

Defensemen: Victor Hedman (NMC), Jason Garrison, Anton Stralman, Braydon Coburn, Andrej Sustr (RFA), Slater Koekkoek, Jake Dotchin

Goaltender: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Kristers Gudlevskis (RFA)

Notable Exemptions

Mikhail Sergachev, Brett Howden

Key Decisions

Unloading Drouin certainly helped from a financial and expansion list aspect. This makes it somewhat easier for forwards to put on the protected list.

Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn are both choices that benefitted from Drouin being moved. Killorn netted 19 goals while Palat will continue to get better. Stamkos and Callahan both have NMCs. Despite fighting injury and not matching his production from 2014-15, Johnson is too good of a talent to leave exposed.

It’s on defense where tougher decisions need to be made, and it will come down to three players. Hedman and Stralman will both be protected, Hedman because he has a no-movement clause and Stralman is key to the Lightning blueline. Jason Garrison and Braydon Coburn are both carrying heavier hits for the cap and will most likely be left alone when they’re exposed. Garrison could hypothetically be taken with his deal ending at the conclusion of the 2017-18 season, but the $4.6MM hit would probably scare Vegas away.

That leaves three choices to protect: Andrej Sustr, Jake Dotchin, and Slater Koekkoek. Sustr is a restricted free agent and won’t be able to command much in the way of money after having a down year. That doesn’t make him exempt from being exposed. If anything, seeing his numbers drop with a number of other options pounding on the door for the big club could make him the odd man out. However, he’s still an economical option and any leverage he had took a hit with the acquisition of Sergachev, who if scouting is correct, should find time on the Tampa blueline next season. But the problem with protecting Sustr is that Tampa would risk losing two young, and talented defensemen for nothing. In the same breath, would the Bolts want to possibly lose a steady defenseman who is only 26?

That leads to Dotchin and Koekkoek. Dotchin just turned 23, and registered 11 points in 35 games this season. The problem is, as Lightning blog Raw Charge pointed out, his sample size was limited compared to Koekkoek while being paired with Hedman. The 23-year-old Koekkoek logged 41 games over the past two seasons, but played strong for AHL affiliate Syracuse during the Calder Cup playoffs. Picking between them is essentially splitting hairs. Koekkoek appears to have the higher ceiling, and plays a cleaner game than Dotchin. Though they play different games, Yzerman might prefer a more disciplined, puck moving defenseman when choosing who to protect. At the same time, Dotchin plays a physical game, and can move the puck as well. He’s not afraid to muck it up, and provides a presence that protects his teammates on the ice–while still contributing on the score sheet. As Tampa Bay Times beat writer Joe Smith wrote, Dotchin has stood out to management, especially in the NHL and AHL during Syracuse’s Calder Cup Final run.

With two younger defensive prospects and after having a less than stellar season, predict Sustr to be exposed and Koekkoek protected. Don’t be surprised, as many others have written, if Yzerman pulls something off to keep all of his young defensemen so Dotchin remains in the fold.

Projected Protection List

F – Steven Stamkos (NMC)
F – Ryan Callahan (NMC)
F – Tyler Johnson (RFA)
F – Nikita Kucherov
F – Vladislav Namestnikov
F – Alex Killorn
F – Ondrej Palat (RFA)

D – Victor Hedman (NMC)
D – Anton Stralman
D –Slater Koekkoek (RFA)

G – Andrei Vasilevskiy

Vasilevskiy is truly the only option to protect as 24-year-old netminder Kristers Gudlevskis is unlikely to be taken with other options presumably available from other teams. Of the decisions, it seems to be the least of Tampa’s worries.

The Lightning, despite missing the playoffs and sustaining injuries to one key player after another, still have a strong lineup that will absolutely compete next season. Peddling Drouin off certainly helped matters, but the third player to protect defensively is a tough decision to make. At the end of the day, though, Yzerman has shown skills deft enough to take a challenging situation and somehow make it work out. Don’t be surprised if he finds a way to do it again.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Offseason Keys: Tampa Bay Lightning

May 26, 2017 at 8:57 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

While the expansion draft is set to headline a busy NHL offseason, there are still several other storylines for each team in the months ahead. Here is a closer look at what lies ahead for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Expectations were high for the Lightning this season but not much went their way. Goaltending was expected to be a strength but Ben Bishop (before being dealt) and Andrei Vasilevskiy both struggled at times while they were dealt a crippling blow when Steven Stamkos tore his meniscus early on, ending his season after just 17 games. Tampa wound up missing the postseason and are now heading into what will likely be a summer of change for GM Steve Yzerman and company. Here are some key decisions that need to be made.

Rebuild The Blueline

Yzerman hasn’t hidden his desire to improve Tampa Bay’s back end. It was reported earlier that he and the Blues had pretty much agreed on a deal for Kevin Shattenkirk but it fell through when they weren’t able to agree on a contract extension. While that one didn’t work, it gives teams (and agents) around the league an idea of what they’re looking to do.

It wouldn’t be all that surprising to see them take another run at Shattenkirk in free agency. The market doesn’t have many players who can play a top pairing role and while they could certainly benefit from the second tiered players, it may not be the best use for the money they have to work with (more on that shortly).

The Lightning have a couple of youngsters who will likely make a strong push for a roster spot next season. Jake Dotchin spent time with Victor Hedman down the stretch and held his own while 2012 first rounder Slater Koekkoek will be waiver eligible next season. While those two will likely factor into the roster next year, there is still a need to add from outside the organization if the team intends on getting back into contention.

Shed Salary

Tampa has a little over $55MM committed in payroll for 2017-18 per CapFriendly and they only have 14 players under contract. They have several key players to re-sign but will have great difficulty getting them all signed without shedding a cumbersome contract or two.

Ryan Callahan dealt with hip trouble for most of the season and has three more years left on his deal with a pricey $5.8MM cap hit. He also has a full no-move clause which could come into play in expansion. The expectation is that he will be ready to go to start next season which takes out a long-term stashing on LTIR out of the question as well. Alex Killorn has six years left on his deal with an AAV of $4.45MM and while he has been a consistent middle six winger, they could decide to try to deal him and stick a cheaper forward in his place.

On the back end, the expiring contract of Jason Garrison ($4.6MM) is likely someone they will be looking to move. He isn’t the top four defender he was in his Vancouver days and is slowing down as he gets older. If they can’t move him (and they’d probably have to attach an asset to get a team to take him), a buyout may be an option as well. Braydon Coburn is another blueliner that isn’t living up to his deal but with two years left at $3.7MM per season, they’ll be in tough to find a taker. Yzerman will need to find a way to move one of these deals if he wants to keep his core restricted free agents in place.

Decisions For RFAs

The Lightning have no fewer than three prominent restricted free agents that are all in line for big raises. Jonathan Drouin had a career year with 53 points in 73 games which was good enough to rank him third in team scoring. A year removed from a midseason holdout and trade request, he has boosted not only his value to Tampa Bay but his trade value around the league. He earned just $832K last season before performance bonuses and will surpass that amount by a considerable margin. Will he be willing to take a bridge deal? That’s a key question and it’s plausible that the answer to that will determine whether or not they’ll be able to keep him for next season; if they opt to move him, they’ll have no shortage of suitors.

Tyler Johnson is a couple of years removed from his breakout 72 point season but is still a legitimate top six centre. The back loaded structure of his second deal results in him needing a $4MM qualifying offer, a fair bit higher than the $3.33MM cap hit he carried for the last three seasons. Ondrej Palat is coming off the identical contract as Johnson but his platform year was a bit more productive as he finished fourth in team scoring with 52 points. At 26, both are candidates for long-term deals but they could also opt to go to arbitration for one year contracts which would set them up for unrestricted free agency next summer.

There’s no doubt that Yzerman would like to go long-term with both but it’s unlikely they’ll be able to do so without losing a core player. It’s certainly shaping up like there will be some tough decisions upcoming this summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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