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Tampa Bay Lightning Acquire Nick Paul

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The Tampa Bay Lightning aren’t done after acquiring Brandon Hagel on Friday. Instead, they are continuing to bolster their forward corps. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that the Bolts have traded for the Ottawa Senators’ Nick Paul. Going the other way is Tampa forward Mathieu Joseph and a 2024 fourth-round pick, per The Ottawa Sun’s Bruce Garrioch. The Senators are retaining 44.5% of Paul’s $1.35MM cap hit, approximately $601K. Both teams have confirmed the deal.

Even though the Bolts seemed to be out of options after adding Hagel, they manage to flip Joseph for Paul with a negligible impact on their difficult cap situation. With the salary retention, Paul will only cost about $749K, while Joseph was making $737.5K. It leaves under $5K in LTIR space for Tampa, but space all the same. That retention is likely what cost the Lightning their draft pick, which leaves them with just seven picks in the first four rounds over the next three years.

In many ways it may seem like swapping Joseph, a 25-year-old impending RFA with 18 points, for Paul, a 27-year-old impending UFA with 18 points, seems like a downgrade. However, Joseph is arbitration eligible this offseason and was unlikely to return to Tampa Bay anyway. He also has managed just 18 points with the high-flying Lightning, while Paul has done the same with the lowly Senators. Paul also brings a superior defensive game and more experience. His two-way ability garnered attention from around the league, but the Lightning were the lucky ones to land him and Paul will be equally excited to chase a championship and boost his numbers before hitting the open market.

 

Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Ilya Usau To Entry-Level Contract

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The Tampa Bay Lightning announced that they have signed forward Ilya Usau to a three-year, entry-level contract. Additional terms of the deal were not made available. Usau was previously undrafted and last played in North America for the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL in 2019-20.

Usau, who was born in Minsk, Belarus, first came to North America in 2017-18, where he played in just four games for the Central Illinois Flying Aces of the USHL. He would return once again for his age 18 season, where he played for Prince Albert. there, he had an impressive 22 goals and 30 assists in 58 games for the Raiders. After a strong showing, he would return to Belarus and sign with his hometown team Dynamo Minsk of the KHL. In 2020-21, he recorded just three goals and three assists in 56 games as a 19-year-old. However, Usau took a step in his development this year, putting up nine goals and 17 assists in 40 games for Minsk this season.

Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Declan Carlile

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have brought in another undrafted talent, this time on defense. PuckPedia reports that Declan Carlile has signed a two-year entry-level contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, one that will kick in for the 2022-23 season. The contract carries a cap hit of $855K, and ends Carlile’s collegiate career after three seasons at Merrimack. Carlile will report to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL on an amateur tryout for the rest of this season.

Carlile, 21, had an interesting junior career before heading to college, one that took him through the OJHL and USHL, playing for various teams. The 6’2″ defenseman turned in an impressive freshman campaign with Merrimack in 2019-20 but like many others, had a year to forget with the COVID-restricted 2020-21 season. He was back to full strength this year and scored seven goals and 24 points in 35 games, earning a Second All-Star Team bid in Hockey East.

Though he would eventually go undrafted, it’s not like Carlile was a completely under-the-radar prospect. He ranked 176th among North American skaters in 2018 and did get drafted into the OHL by the Oshawa Generals, though decided on the NCAA route instead. Now an effective player at both ends of the rink, he’ll jump into a Lightning organization that is known for polishing the rough edges of a prospect and squeezing NHL minutes out of unexpected places. With a contract in hand, he’ll be the next project for the Tampa Bay development staff.

Lightning Reportedly Have Interest In Tyler Motte

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  • The Fourth Period’s Irfaan Gaffar also reports another Tyler could be on the move out of Vancouver, as he says the Tampa Bay Lightning have shown “a lot of interest” in Tyler Motte. He’s a small acquisition that the Lightning could potentially actually have the cap flexibility to make, as Motte carries a friendly cap hit of $1.225MM. He has seven goals and 14 points in 43 games this season after missing some time to start the year with injury and would add a more veteran presence to a Tampa Bay lineup that’s relied more this season on inexperienced youth than in years past.

Lightning Place Boris Katchouk In COVID Protocol

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March 10: Katchouk has been loaned to the AHL on a conditioning assignment, suggesting he’s now out of the protocol and can play some games at the minor league level to get back up to speed.

March 6: While there has been a significant reduction of players entering COVID protocol since the All-Star break, there are a handful of players that have been put in there in recent weeks.  The latest is Lightning winger Boris Katchouk as Joe Smith of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that the youngster has entered COVID protocol.

The 23-year-old made his NHL debut in mid-October and has been able to hold onto a spot on the roster all season.  Katchouk has played in 37 games this season, picking up two goals and four assists along with 25 penalty minutes while averaging 9:48 per game.

Since the All-Star break, testing is generally only required if a player is symptomatic.  However, it’s also needed to cross into Canada (where the Lightning are heading on Monday) so the whole Tampa Bay team was tested with Katchouk being the only one to test positive.  As a result, he’ll be out for at least the next five games – tonight’s contest against Chicago plus the four-game trip in Western Canada.  Katchouk should be able to return on March 16th.

Tampa Bay is able to take Katchouk off their active roster but it’s unlikely they’ll do so as they don’t have enough cap space to bring anyone up from AHL Syracuse.  Instead, they’ll have to make do with only one extra skater on their road trip.

Anaheim Ducks Claim Andrej Sustr

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The Anaheim Ducks are bringing back a familiar face, as they have claimed Andrej Sustr off waivers from the Tampa Bay Lightning according to Chris Johnston of TSN.

Sustr, 31, has only played for two NHL organizations in his pro career, the Lightning and the Ducks–though the latter was for a very brief stint. In 2018 the hulking defenseman signed a one-year, $1.3MM contract with Anaheim and was expected to be a full-time part of the blueline. Instead, he played only five games in a Ducks uniform and spent most of the season in the minor leagues. That season spent in the AHL led to his departure from North America, as he left for the KHL to play two seasons after that one year in the Anaheim organization.

Now he’s back, though it’s still unclear how much playing time he’ll actually get with the Ducks. Sustr has played in 15 games with the Lightning this season but averaged just over ten minutes of ice time, and has spent much more time in the minor leagues with the Syracuse Crunch. Because he was claimed on waivers he’ll remain in the NHL for now, though Anaheim’s defensive depth chart isn’t much easier to crack than Tampa Bay’s.

In fact, his acquisition will raise some eyebrows around the league, given the pending unrestricted free agency of Josh Manson and Hampus Lindholm and general manager Pat Verbeek’s clear message that he will trade them if unable to reach extensions. Even with Manson on injured reserve the Ducks appear to have at least seven players that would be working ahead of Sustr, though perhaps head coach Dallas Eakins wants to insert some more size into the lineup.

At any rate, it means for now the 31-year-old will continue to earn his NHL salary and get a chance at NHL action, instead of returning to Syracuse where he would make significantly less.

Danny DeKeyser Clears Waivers

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March 8: DeKeyser has cleared waivers and can now be assigned to the minor leagues. With Vrana already confirmed for tonight’s game, the team will need to move someone off the roster to make room for his return. If they do assign DeKeyser to the AHL, $1.125MM of his cap hit would be buried. Sustr meanwhile was claimed by the Anaheim Ducks.

March 7: After claiming Olli Juolevi yesterday, the Detroit Red Wings have placed a veteran defenseman on waivers. Danny DeKeyser has been waived, along with Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr, according to Chris Johnston of TSN.

DeKeyser, 32, cleared waivers multiple times last season but has spent this year on the active roster while he plays out the end of his long-term contract. Signed to a six-year, $30MM deal in 2016, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career this offseason. Where his career goes next is unclear, as the once stalwart two-way defender has found his role diminished in recent years.

Interestingly enough, at even-strength DeKeyser has played almost exclusively alongside rookie phenom Moritz Seider, giving the young defenseman a stable veteran partner to lean on as he transitions to NHL life. But it’s that even-strength ice time that has come way down, with DeKeyser averaging less than four other regular defensemen in Detroit. On the other hand, the penalty kill is where he still provides some nice value, logging the most short-handed time of any Red Wings player, but none of that would suggest that a team would take a chance on his $5MM cap hit through waivers. With Juolevi now in the fold–and a roster spot likely needed for Jakub Vrana’s impending activation–it’s not clear what role DeKeyser will have on the Red Wings down the stretch.

For Sustr, waivers is nothing new. He has already cleared them before the season began, and several other times throughout his NHL career. This season he has played in 15 games for the Lightning, basically serving more as a practice player and injury insurance than anything else. If he clears, he’ll likely be bounced up and down between the AHL and NHL for another chunk of the season.

Jon Cooper Ejected From Game, Could Face Fine

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Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Bennett MacArthur

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Stop if you’ve heard this one before: the Tampa Bay Lightning have signed an undrafted forward out of the QMJHL. Bennett MacArthur has signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Lightning that will begin in the 2022-23 season. He’ll continue to play with the Acadie-Bathurst Titan for the rest of this year. PuckPedia reports that the contract will carry an NHL cap hit of $859K.

MacArthur, 21, has put up huge numbers this season, scoring at nearly a goal-per-game pace. Twenty-five goals and 43 points in 26 games has earned him an NHL contract, and with a team that is famous for turning undrafted talent into legitimate contributors.

Yanni Gourde and Alex Barre-Boulet are recent examples of high-scoring QMJHL talent that went overlooked in the draft, but have made their way to the NHL in some capacity. MacArthur will try to follow those footsteps in an organization that has been the gold standard for development for the last several years.

The young forward attended development camp with the Arizona Coyotes last year and “learned a lot” about how to take care of his body and act like a professional. It appears to have paid off, as his outstanding season has landed him an NHL deal.

Trade Deadline Primer: Tampa Bay Lightning

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With the All-Star break now behind us, the trade deadline looms large and is now less than a month away.  Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make?  We continue our look around the league with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Aspirations of a three-peat are still alive and well in Tampa Bay, where the Lightning are once again thriving in a tough division despite facing a variety of injuries all year. They’ll undoubtedly be one of the top three teams in the Atlantic Division at the season’s end, but with increasingly tough competition, more fortification to the lineup wouldn’t hurt to help their chances at a Cup in 2022.

Record

34-11-6, 2nd in Atlantic

Deadline Status

Buyer

Deadline Cap Space

$100,000 today, $100,000 in full-season space, 0/3 retention slots used, 49/50 contracts used per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2022: TBL 1st, TBL 5th, TBL 6th, DET 6th, TBL 7th, NYR 7th
2023: TBL 1st, TBL 3rd, TBL 4th, TBL 5th, TBL 6th, TBL 7th, ANA 7th

Trade Chips

One of the handicaps of being back-to-back Stanley Cup champions is having to pay up when players’ contracts expire. That’s impacted the Lightning greatly, forcing them to jettison their now-famed third line of Yanni Gourde, Barclay Goodrow, and Blake Coleman this offseason as well as acquire Brent Seabrook’s contract for long-term injured reserve relief. Even with all that, they’re within thousands of dollars of the salary cap, and any trade deadline deal will likely need to be a money-in, money-out sort of swap.

It would be fair to argue that it would serve Tampa better to just stand pat, considering how strong their team has been all season. But if they do opt to move out a roster player for a win-now upgrade, defenseman Cal Foote immediately jumps off the page. It’s certainly not time to give up on him yet, but in his second full-time season, he’s got just five points in 37 games and has been sparingly used in the lineup, averaging just 13:35 per game. He’s also the weakest analytical link on the Tampa Bay blue line. In fact, given Foote’s youth and ceiling, general manager Julien BriseBois could likely recoup an asset or two from another team along with a more experienced, veteran defenseman.

If a different deal comes along, the Bolts do still have a closet of later-round picks to deal from in the 2023 Draft. With just six picks remaining in 2022, it’s reasonable to expect that they’d prefer to hold onto those for the time being.

Others To Watch For: F Alex Barre-Boulet ($758k through 2024), F Gabriel Fortier ($792k through 2023), G Hugo Alnefelt ($851k through 2023)

Team Needs

1) Depth Defenseman – It’s poetic that one of the few transactions that makes sense for such a cap-strapped team also fills likely their biggest need in the lineup. Behind Foote on the depth chart is Zach Bogosian, who’s struggled with injury all season, and Andrej Sustr, a European re-entry player this year who’s gotten into just 13 games with one point. Another body would be good insurance for Tampa, especially another left-shot man for the third pairing that would allow them to more comfortably use Mikhail Sergachev up alongside Victor Hedman, where he’s found a good home this season.

2) More Draft Picks – The prospect cupboard is beginning to empty for Tampa, who has drafted very efficiently in recent years to maintain their success. Getting some more mid- to late-round picks in the fold in the right trade could once again pan out to be a star for the Lightning’s stellar scouting group.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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