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Lightning Recall Brandon Halverson, Reassign Cam Atkinson

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled goaltender Brandon Halverson from the minor leagues. It is his first formal call-up with Tampa Bay, after signing a two-year, $1.6MM contract with the club on February 3rd. Halverson ad spent the season on an AHL contract with the Syracuse Crunch prior to that deal. In a corresponding move, Tampa Bay has also reassigned veteran forward Cam Atkinson to the minor leagues. It is the second time that Atkinson has been assigned to the minor leagues this season.

Halverson’s recall represents little more than roster padding as the Lightning prepare for back-to-back road games against Utah and Vegas this weekend. The 28-year-old netminder will step in as Tampa Bay’s third string for the trip, operating behind Andrei Vasilievskiy and Jonas Johansson. Halverson earns the recognition after posting an impressive 16-9-8 record and .913 save percentage in 34 AHL games this season. The numbers are closely in line with his statline from last season, when he maintained a .913 through both 14 AHL games and 32 ECHL games in Tampa Bay’s system.

Halverson joined the Lightning organization on a minor-league contract before the 2023-24 campaign. Before that, he was a journeyman minor leaguer – working through depth-chart stints with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Boston Bruins, Arizona Coyotes, and Dallas Stars. But Halverson spent the bulk of his pro career with the New York Rangers, who originally drafted him in the second-round of the 2014 NHL Draft. Halverson made his pro debut two seasons later, and quickly carved out a habit of average play in the AHL and solid play in the ECHL. His biggest moment came in the 2017-18 season, when he made a 12-minute NHL debut in relief of Rangers legend Henrik Lundqvist. Halverson allowed one goal on six shots. He was reassigned soon after that came, and returned to bouncing between second and third tier pros.

Atkinson, meanwhile, returns to the minors after playing just two games in the month of March. He scored one goal and played just 16 total minutes of ice time in those appearances. The point brings Atkinson up to three points in his last five NHL games, though that stretch dates as far back as February 6th. He’s become Tampa Bay’s extra forward, on the back of just nine points in 38 games this season. Atkinson did not play in any AHL games on his previous assignment. He’ll have one chance to play this weekend, with the Crunch set to host the Rochester Americans on Saturday. If he does, Atkinson will be playing in his first AHL game since the 2012-13 season. He scored 38 points in 33 AHL games that year.

Nikita Kucherov Out With Illness

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Nikita Kucherov Game-Time Decision Due To Illness

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  • Lightning star winger Nikita Kucherov remains less than 100%. The 31-year-old wasn’t a participant in today’s morning skate, per the team’s Gabby Shirley, an increasingly frequent occurrence in recent days. While he has five points in his last four outings, he hasn’t logged over 20 minutes of ice time in any of them and played just 15:17 against the Hurricanes on Tuesday. He still has 28-64–92 in 61 appearances this year, the third-highest points-per-game pace of his future Hall-of-Fame career. Head coach Jon Cooper confirmed Kucherov is dealing with an illness and will be a game-time decision.

Lightning Recall Cam Atkinson

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The Lightning have recalled winger Cam Atkinson from AHL Syracuse, according to NHL.com’s Benjamin Pierce. While they don’t need to make a corresponding move, he is the first of their four allotted post-deadline standard recalls.

Atkinson, a 13-year NHL veteran, has only suited up twice for the Bolts since the 4 Nations Face-Off. He was a healthy scratch in four out of six games before landing on standard waivers for the first time in his career and heading to Syracuse before the deadline, freeing up cap space for Tampa to acquire Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde from the Kraken.

The 35-year-old signed a one-year, $900K deal with the Lightning last summer after the Flyers bought out the final season of his seven-year, $41.1MM contract. He was coming off an underwhelming year in Philadelphia, managing 13-15–28 in 70 games after missing all of the 2022-23 season due to neck surgery. Unfortunately, this year hasn’t been any better. The seven-time 20-goal scorer has averaged just 8:50 across 37 games for the Bolts, scoring 3-5–8 with a minus-three rating.

The Bolts had to run 11 forwards and seven defensemen in last night’s loss to the Hurricanes after Mitchell Chaffee was a late scratch. While he’s not expected to miss any more action, recalling Atkinson gives them another option to insert into the fourth line with Zemgus Girgensons and Luke Glendening instead of having to dress a seventh defender and put their forward lines in a blender.

Atkinson did not play for Syracuse in his brief demotion. If he did, it would have marked his first AHL appearance since the 2011-12 campaign. The former Columbus sixth-round pick has 252-236–488 in 807 career games with the Blue Jackets, Flyers and Lightning and will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1.

Evening Notes: Gavrikov, Marchand, Hedman, Jokiharju

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Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake spoke in-depth about his efforts to extend defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov in a post-Trade Deadline media availability. Blake shared that keeping Gavrikov around is a top priority for the team, but finding a new deal could take some time after Gavrikov changed agents in February. But even with the flip, Blake reiterated that both the team and the player are confident a deal can get done.

Gavrikov has been a top defender for the Kings. He has averaged nearly 24 minutes of ice time on a nightly basis, good for second on the team behind Drew Doughty’s average of 25:32. Gavrikov has brought a shutdown presence to those premier moments. He leads the team with 117 blocked shots, to go with 21 points, 14 penalty minutes, a plus-eight, and 34 hits in 60 games. He’s averaged north of 20 minutes of ice time in every season since his 2021-22 campaign with the Columbus Blue Jackets. That season stands as Gavrikov’s career-year, headlined by a career-high 33 points and 68 penalty minutes in 80 games. The 29-year-old defenseman has slowed his scoring since those days, but looks capable of carrying his brick wall style well into his 30s. The Kings will look to bank on that growth on his next extension, which will likely carry Gavrikov to the sunset years of his career.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Boston Bruins offered captain Brad Marchand a three-year extension before opting to trade him to the Florida Panthers, per ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. Kaplan goes on to add that Boston’s original extension offers to the 36-year-old Marchand were stuck at two years, but that the team expanded their offer in the waning minutes to try and secure a deal. Ultimately, the money wasn’t right for Marchand – and he opted to pursue a move to the Panthers instead. Marchand will have a chance to sign a more preferable deal when he enters unrestricted free agency this summer. The Bruins lost their second-highest scorer in dealing away Marchand, who has 21 goals and 47 points in 61 games on the year. He’ll be a major addition for the Florida Panthers, but will first need to overcome a shoulder injury that’s expected to hold him out for a few weeks.
  • Tampa Bay Lightning captain Victor Hedman missed the team’s Saturday night matchup against the Boston Bruins and has been listed as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Hedman has made a major impact on the Bolts lineup over his recent stretch, with five points in his last five games and seven points in his last 10 games. J.J. Moser elevates to the top line in Hedman’s absence, while Emil Martinsen Lilleberg draws back onto Tampa Bay’s third pair. Moser has 10 points and a plus-13 in 35 games this season, while Lilleberg has 14 points, 85 penalty minutes, and a minus-seven in 58 games.
  • The newest Boston Bruins defenseman Henri Jokiharju told reporters that he had requested a trade away from the Buffalo Sabres prior to his deadline-day move. He also clamored about his positive relationships with new Boston teammates Casey Mittelstadt and Joonas Korpisalo. Jokiharju joins the Bruins after six tough seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. He earned top-pair minutes at points during his Sabres tenure, as the team struggled to staff a hardy right-defense corp – but Jokiharju could never make much of his minutes. He set a career-high of 20 points in 74 games last season, but had just six points in 42 games with Buffalo this year. Jokiharju should fill a much more manageable bottom-four role in Boston, playing behind shutdown defender Andrew Peeke at least.

Tampa Bay Lightning Acquire Oliver Bjorkstrand, Yanni Gourde

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The Tampa Bay Lightning announced a whopping trade a few days before the deadline. The full trade details are as follows:

  • Tampa Bay acquires F Yanni Gourde (50% retained by Seattle, 25% retained by Detroit), F Oliver Bjorkstrand, the signing rights to D Kyle Aucoin, and Seattle’s 2025 fifth-round pick
  • Seattle acquires F Michael Eyssimont, Tampa Bay’s 2026 first-round pick, Tampa Bay’s 2027 first-round pick, and Toronto’s 2025 second-round pick
  • Detroit acquires a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick (the highest selection between Tampa Bay or Edmonton’s 2025 fourth-round pick)

As a final note on the two first-round picks headed to Seattle, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that both are top-10 protected. If either of the picks are in the top-10, they slide back one year, theoretically meaning they could slide back to the 2028 or 2029 NHL Draft. If that happens to either draft selection, the Lightning will send a third-round pick to the Kraken for any year that it happens.

Tampa opened up some roster flexibility today after waiving forwards Cam Atkinson and Logan Brown on Tuesday, but the moves will only open $900K in cap space. We now know that the Lightning brought in the Detroit Red Wings as a third party for the deal, as they’ll help bring Gourde’s cap hit down to $1.29MM after retention.

Given the package returning to Seattle, this deal will inevitably have a downstream effect on the market. Although Bjorkstrand himself isn’t a rental, it’s a massive price to pay for two players projected to play in the Lightning’s middle-six. It’s a heavy price, but Tampa Bay is gambling that Gourde and Bjorkstrand will be more valuable than two draft picks later in the first round.

Still, aside from the price, it’s not easy to hypothesize better additions for the Lightning. Gourde returns to the organization where he won two Stanley Cup rings in 2020 and 2021 after a four-year hiatus in Washington state.

At the time of writing, Tampa Bay is 10th in the NHL with an 81.05% penalty kill and 18th with a team faceoff percentage of 50.32%. Furthermore, aside from the topical statistics, they are 16th in the NHL with a 50.5% CorsiFor% at even strength. Gourde is expected to help in all three areas.

He’ll carry a 50.8% faceoff rate and a 52.2% CorsiFor% at even strength into his first game back with the Lightning. The move will also allow Tampa Bay to move Nick Paul to the second line and give Gourde third-line minutes next to a combination of different wingers. Given the firepower at the top of Tampa Bay’s forward core, Gourde won’t be counted upon as much for offense, which could even help improve his play on the defensive side of the puck.

The deal’s benefits don’t end there for Tampa. If the Lightning believe Paul is better suited on the third line, Bjorkstrand can immediately step into the second line. Dating back to his tenure with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Bjorkstand can generally be relied upon for 20 goals and 30 to 40 assists a year. Bjorkstrand is only one year removed from the best offensive production of his career, scoring 20 goals and 59 points for the Kraken in 82 contests.

Similarly to Gourde, Bjorkstrand is a solid possession player, evidenced by his career CorsiFor% of 52.0% at even strength. Given that Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli have scored 30 and 20 goals already this season, respectively, Bjorkstrand will be an effective playmaker to put alongside them.

The only roster player headed to Seattle is Eyssimont. He’s spent the last three years as a bottom-six forward for the Lightning and is only one year removed from a career campaign himself. Eyssimont scored 11 goals and 25 points in 81 games for Tampa Bay last season, averaging 11:51 of ice time per game. Unfortunately, he hasn’t lived up to those standards this year, scoring five goals and 10 points in 51 contests, averaging 10:41 of ice time per game.

Meanwhile, the Kraken are on the horizon of complementing an already deep prospect pool. Seattle will have nine picks in the top 64 of the next three NHL Drafts alone. Should the Lightning continue winning, those first-round picks won’t fall till later. Still, it’s always better to have two picks in the first round rather than one.

The impact of this deal on the trade market cannot be overstated. Many have perceived that this year’s deadline has become a seller’s market, and this trade solidifies that notion. Clear-cut buyers such as the Dallas Stars, Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Winnipeg Jets may have more difficulty improving their roster after this trade. Additionally, teams on the playoff bubble may have an easier time buying and selling before Friday’s deadline.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports images. 

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was the first to report that Tampa Bay was working on acquiring Gourde and Bjorkstrand from Seattle. 

Friedman was the first to report that Seattle was acquiring two first-round picks in the deal. 

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun was the first to report a majority of the trade details.

LeBrun was the first to report salary retention details and Detroit’s involvement.

PHR’s Brennan McClain contributed to this article. 

Lightning To Reassign Cam Atkinson, Logan Brown

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March 5: Atkinson and Brown cleared waivers, according to Friedman. Both will be reassigned to Syracuse as the Lightning look to close a trade with the Kraken for forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde.

March 4: The Lightning have placed forwards Cam Atkinson and Logan Brown on waivers for reassignment to AHL Syracuse, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Brown wasn’t previously under contract with the Bolts, so the move indicates he’s been promoted from his contract with Syracuse and signed to an NHL contract for the rest of the campaign.

It’s certainly eye-popping to see Atkinson, a veteran of over 800 NHL games, on the waiver wire. His performance after signing a one-year, $900K deal with the Bolts early in free agency, though, has left much to be desired. The 35-year-old has 3-5–8 through 36 games and is averaging a career-low 8:49 per night. He’s become an increasingly frequent healthy scratch as a result, sitting out a season-high four straight contests entering tonight’s game against his former team, the Blue Jackets.

Atkinson was still a semi-serviceable top-nine piece for the Flyers last year, posting 13-15–28 through 70 games. It wasn’t nearly enough to justify his $5.875MM cap hit, though, and Philadelphia opted to buy him out with one year remaining on his contract. The downturn in production from the diminutive yet skilled Atkinson came after he missed the entire 2022-23 campaign following neck surgery, one that unfortunately seems to have tanked his effectiveness in his career’s twilight.

Selected in the sixth round of the 2008 draft by the Blue Jackets, Atkinson was a top-six fixture in Columbus for a decade. He posted 402 points in 627 games with the club before they traded him to Philly in the 2021 offseason in a blockbuster one-for-one exchange that sent Jakub Voráček the other way. Injuries have derailed both players’ careers since, with Voráček since retiring due to concussions.

Now in Tampa, Atkinson has been superseded by players like Zemgus Girgensons and Gage Goncalves on their depth chart. He’s been tried at right wing on the second line with Anthony Cirelli and Brandon Hagel – a role that’s Tampa’s top priority this week to fill. Waiving Atkinson gives them additional roster and salary cap flexibility to achieve that goal.

They’ll also add Brown as a recall option down the stretch, assuming he clears waivers. The 26-year-old center will earn a pro-rated salary of $775K in the NHL and $350K in the AHL down the stretch, per PuckPedia.

The No. 11 pick in the 2016 draft, Brown hasn’t skated in an NHL game since making 30 appearances for the Blues in the 2022-23 campaign. He signed a two-way deal with Tampa for 2023-24 but ended up spending the entire season on injured reserve following an undisclosed surgery. He returned to the Bolts on a camp tryout and landed an AHL deal with Syracuse, where the 6’6″ pivot has 7-12–19 through 25 appearances.

Brown won’t count against the Bolts’ active roster since he was waived on the same day he signed a contract.

Salary Cap Deep Dive: Tampa Bay Lightning

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t often see struggles and front office changes.

PHR is looking at every NHL team and giving a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2024-25 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia.  We’re currently covering the Atlantic Division, next up is the Lightning.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Current Cap Hit: $86,676,870 (under the $88MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

F Conor Geekie (three years, $886.7K)
D Emil Lilleberg (one year, $870K)

Potential Bonuses
Geekie: $525K
Lilleberg: $80K
Total: $605K

Geekie was a key pickup in the Mikhail Sergachev trade back at the draft.  He spent the first half of the season with the big club but was sent down after struggling.  That makes it unlikely that he reaches his ‘A’ bonuses while at this point, a low-cost second contract seems likely unless he can establish himself as a core piece over the next two years.

Lilleberg has already signed an extension so we’ll cover that later on.  For here, it’s worth noting that his bonuses are tied to games played so he’ll hit most if not all of his number.

Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level

F Cam Atkinson ($900K, UFA)
F Michael Eyssimont ($800K, UFA)
F Luke Glendening ($800K, UFA)
F Gage Goncalves ($775K, RFA)
G Jonas Johansson ($775K, UFA)
D Nicklaus Perbix ($1.125MM, UFA)

After being bought out by Philadelphia, Atkinson was a low-cost flyer to see if he could provide Tampa Bay with some depth scoring.  That hasn’t happened and at this point, it’d be surprising to see him land a guaranteed contract this summer.  If so – or if he earns one off a PTO – it’s likely to be for the minimum.  Glendening has been as advertised – a reliable faceoff player who can kill penalties but brings little offense to the table.  There’s still a role for him beyond this year but it’s likely to be at or near the minimum of $775K once again.

Eyssimont had a breakout effort last season, notching 25 points despite playing primarily in their bottom six (often the fourth line).  He hasn’t been able to produce at a similar rate this year which will hurt him a bit on the open market.  Even so, as a fourth liner who can play with some jam and bring potentially a little offensive upside, he could jump closer to the $1.3MM range on his next contract.  Goncalves has cleared waivers twice already but has spent more time with the Lightning than the Crunch so far.  He has arbitration rights which could give the Lightning pause if they think a hearing could push him past the $1MM mark or so but he’s a candidate to take less than his qualifying offer of around $813K for a higher AHL salary or even a one-way NHL salary.

Perbix is the most notable of Tampa Bay’s pending free agents.  While he has largely had a limited role this season, he had 24 points last year while logging a little over 17 minutes a night.  Considering he’s still young (he’ll be 27 in June), big (6’4), and a right-shot player, his market could grow quickly from teams looking for a depth addition with a little upside, meaning that more than doubling this price could be doable.

Johansson remains a below-average NHL netminder but that’s something the Lightning knew when they signed him in 2023.  The goal for them was getting someone at the minimum salary.  Johansson’s staying power could give him a shot at a few more dollars but he’ll remain in the six-figure range.

Signed Through 2025-26

F Mitchell Chaffee ($800K, UFA)
D Ryan McDonagh ($6.75MM, UFA)
D J.J. Moser ($3.375MM, RFA)
D Darren Raddysh ($975K, UFA)
F Conor Sheary ($2MM, UFA)

Sheary received this deal coming off two strong years with Washington but things haven’t gone anywhere near as well with the Lightning.  He scored just four goals last season and has spent most of this year in the minors, carrying a pro-rated $850K charge while down there.  He’s a buyout candidate this summer although they could elect to hold onto him and take the $850K charge again next year instead of putting some money onto the 2026-27 books.  Chaffee has established himself as a regular on the fourth line and is in a similar situation as Eyssimont was a year ago.  Assuming that keeps up, he could push to land a $500K raise or so in 2026.

McDonagh’s contract was once deemed too expensive for Tampa Bay which resulted in them moving him to Nashville in 2022 for a very minimal return.  Two years later, they gave up more value to reacquire the final two seasons of the agreement which is something you don’t see too often.  But it reflects the need they had to bring in a veteran dependable defender which is what McDonagh is at this point of his career.  He’s not a true top-pairing piece at this stage of his career nor is he enough of an offensive threat to provide value relative to his price tag.  But if he can still hold down at least a top-four spot by the end of next season, he could still land a contract in the $4MM to $5MM range, perhaps a one-year deal which would allow for some incentives.

Moser was another piece of note in the Sergachev trade after being one of the more underrated blueliners with Arizona.  The structure of the bridge deal gives him a $4.075MM qualifying offer with arbitration rights and assuming he’s still a full-timer in Tampa’s top four, he seems like a strong candidate to push past the $5MM mark on his next contract.  Raddysh has become a capable producer of secondary scoring from the back end although he gives some of that back with his defensive play.  Those players don’t always have the best markets year-to-year but barring a big drop in performance or playing time, he should be able to double this at a minimum in 2026.

Signed Through 2026-27

F Zemgus Girgensons ($850K, UFA)
F Nikita Kucherov ($9.5MM, UFA)
D Emil Lilleberg ($800K in 2025-26 and 2026-27, RFA)

Kucherov continues to be one of the top point-producing forwards in the NHL.  He’s around $2MM below the highest-paid winger (Artemi Panarin) but that’s about to change with this upcoming UFA crop which will only widen that gap and give Tampa Bay even better value in the short term.  Assuming he doesn’t slow down over the next three years, he could be someone conceivably pushing for a deal in the $14MM range himself even at 34.  Girgensons saw his production drop in the last couple of years with Buffalo but it has cratered even more this year.  Still, he’s a capable penalty killer and can play with some grit.  That for $100K above the minimum isn’t bad value.

Lilleberg’s new deal is actually a dip in pay off his entry-level pact but gives him guaranteed money via a one-way salary no matter what.  Assuming he remains a regular with the Lightning during that time, his arbitration eligibility could put him in line to double (or even triple) that price tag on his next contract.

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Predators Acquire Jesse Ylönen From Lightning

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The Nashville Predators and Tampa Bay Lightning are making an AHL swap shortly before the trade deadline. The Predators announced they’ve acquired forward Jesse Ylönen from the Lightning for forward Anthony Angello.

Sticking to the deadline approach he shared yesterday, general manager Barry Trotz has acquired a forward with NHL experience who can fill in should the Predators move out multiple forward pieces. There are non-subtle expectations Nashville will be one of the aggressive sellers during this year’s deadline season, and Ylönen provides a quality depth option for that approach.

Despite playing the entire year with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, Ylönen is a veteran of 111 games at the NHL level — all with the Montreal Canadiens. After debuting with the Canadiens on May 12, 2021, Ylönen scored 11 goals and 29 points in Montreal before signing on with the Lightning this past summer as an unrestricted free agent. He was recalled on February 22nd by the Lightning but only served as a practice player for Tampa Bay’s returning members of the 4 Nations Face-Off.

The lack of NHL minutes hasn’t hindered his production this season as Ylönen’s recorded eight goals and 25 points in 47 games for the Crunch. That production puts the Scottsdale, AZ native third on the team in scoring and would make him tied for seventh on the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals.

Meanwhile, Angello heads east to join the fourth organization of his professional career. The former fifth-round pick of the 2014 NHL Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins is a veteran of 320 games at the AHL level split between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Springfield Thunders, and Admirals. He’s managed 68 goals and 133 points over that stretch and 307 PIMs. Angello isn’t a stranger to the NHL either, scoring three goals and five points in 31 games for Pittsburgh from 2019 to 2022.

Lightning Reassign Matt Tomkins

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The Lightning announced today they’ve reassigned goaltender Matt Tomkins to AHL Syracuse. They’re back to having two open spots on the active roster.

Tomkins’ demotion is a positive sign for the availability of their usual No. 2 option, Jonas Johansson. The 29-year-old remains on the roster but hasn’t played since Jan. 28, missing eight games with a lower-body injury. Tomkins and Brandon Halverson have rotated in as Andrei Vasilevskiy’s backup in his absence, although neither has seen game action since Johansson got hurt.

The 30-year-old Tomkins is in his second season in the Tampa organization after inking a two-year, two-way deal early in the 2023 offseason. He’s served as their third-stringer throughout. He hasn’t seen any NHL action this year and only made six appearances in 2023-24 – the first of his NHL career. He posted a 3-2-1 record with a below-average .892 SV% and 3.33 GAA but stopped 0.4 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck.

Things have mainly gone well for Tomkins in Syracuse this season, fueled by a recent hot streak. He’s not played quite as much as Halverson but has nearly matched him in SV% (.911) with a 2.54 GAA and a 9-9-4 record in 22 appearances with three shutouts. It’s an overall improvement on last season’s numbers on the farm when he logged a .904 SV% and 2.53 GAA in 29 games for Syracuse with a 15-12-2 record.

While he’ll make way for Johansson’s return, the latter hasn’t outplayed Tomkins significantly. Since arriving in Tampa for the 2023-24 campaign, Johansson has managed just a .890 SV% and 3.33 GAA in 36 starts and three relief appearances, combining for 12.2 goals allowed above expected across a year and a half. Before his injury this year, he’d logged a .892 SV% and 3.24 GAA in 13 showings behind Vasilevskiy.

The backup netminder position hasn’t been a concern in Tampa for nearly a decade, given Vasilevskiy’s increasingly rare ability to remain a top-tier netminder while making 60-plus starts. Johansson’s underwhelming play likely isn’t a massive influence on the Bolts’ deadline plans. However, it’s reasonable to assume they could look to at least add another depth option to complement him, Halverson, and Tomkins heading into the postseason should Vasilevskiy sustain an injury.

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