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Latest On Tampa Bay’s LTIR Situation

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Since before the start of the season when they acquired the rights to injured players Marian Gaborik and Anders Nilsson from Ottawa, the Lightning have been tap-dancing around their LTIR cap ceiling in order to stay cap-compliant.  That took another turn earlier this week when it was quietly revealed that center Steven Stamkos was transferred to LTIR retroactive to April 9th due to a lower-body injury.

With that placement, some have wondered if that could pave the way for winger Nikita Kucherov to return earlier than expected from his hip injury.  The veteran has been skating for several weeks now – albeit in a non-contact capacity – and while he was ruled out for the entire regular season before the year even started, he is expected to be ready for the playoffs.

However, as Bryan Burns of the Lightning’s team site notes, that’s not likely to be the case.  The team currently lacks the salary cap room to activate Kucherov even with Stamkos on LTIR although that could be alleviated with forwards Alex Barre-Boulet and Ross Colton being sent down.  They also expect defenseman Jan Rutta to return and will need to free up room for that move to be made and will need to send those waiver-exempt players down to accommodate it.

Plus, as head coach Jon Cooper notes, they aren’t yet ruling Stamkos out from returning this season and the injury is unrelated to the core muscle trouble that kept him out of the bubble last summer aside from three shifts (of which he scored on one of them).  He’s already out until at least May 3rd due to LTIR requirements that say a player must miss 10 games and 24 days which means there will only be four games left in the season by the time he’s able to come back so at best, he’ll have limited game action before the playoffs.

The fact that they didn’t make the retroactive placement for Stamkos before the trade deadline is telling that they expect him back; Burns notes on Twitter that their hope is that he’ll be able to be back on the ice within the next week and a half.  Had they believed he was out for the rest of the regular season, they could have taken on David Savard’s contract without needing the extra salary cap retention that Detroit provided.  While it appeared that an avenue had been created for Kucherov to return, that’s not likely to be the case.  Instead, Tampa Bay will be continuing to deftly navigate their cap situation right down to the end of the regular season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

NHL Not Opposed To Third-Party Salary Retention In Trades

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Perhaps the story of the NHL Trade Deadline, since it certainly wasn’t the quantity of trades or the numerous star players on the move, was the advent of the third-party salary cap broker in trades. Three different deals were made at the deadline that included three teams, with the third team strictly being used as a means to retain salary on the centerpiece player moving to a contender short on cap space. In each one, the third team retained the maximum 50% of salary after the seller had also retained 50%, leaving the buyer with just 25% of the player’s cap value. For their part, the third team received a draft pick from the buyer and were able to shed a minor league salary as well.

The Tampa Bay Lightning first used the Detroit Red Wings to broker the trade of defenseman David Savard from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Tampa had been expected to be quiet at the deadline given their miniscule cap space, but ended up getting one of the best defensemen on the rental market. Next, the Toronto Maple Leafs employed the San Jose Sharks as the middle-man for their acquisition of Nick Foligno, again from the Blue Jackets. Toronto had little cap flexibility and a long shopping list at the deadline and would not have been able to add Foligno without help. Finally, San Jose volunteered to be the third team again the deal that sent Mattias Janmark from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Vegas Golden Knights. Vegas has had the worst cap situation of any team in the league this season, restricted from making standard roster moves and several times forced into short-handed lineups. Yet, using this new three-team retention format they were able to add a top rental.

This all poses a question that at least a few other NHL clubs have been asking: should this be legal? The NHL has cracked down on salary cap circumvention in the past and there appear to be some who believe this is simply the newest version, allowing cap-strapped contenders to acquire players that they never could otherwise. However, according to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun on the latest edition of “Insider Trading“, this is one perceived problem that the league will not tackle. LeBrun reports that the league has been well are of this method of trade and were not fooled by the deals made at the deadline this year. After all, it was more than three years ago now when the Pittsburgh Penguins seemingly invented this formula – albeit in a more complete hockey trade – in the Derick Brassard deadline deal with Vegas and the Ottawa Senators. The Golden Knights then used the format to their advantage just last year, adding Robin Lehner from the Blackhawks via a cap-retention pitstop in Toronto. Clearly, there is a group of teams who have taken to this specific style of three-team trade, with Vegas and Toronto chief among them, and there are others who are not happy about it. As such, the NHL has already done its due diligence on the legality and will not take action.

Their reasoning? There simply is no cap circumvention occurring here. LeBrun relays that the league has no issue with a third team being used solely for cap retention, as hockey capital is being acquired by all parties. The Red Wings and Sharks received mid-round draft picks in exchange for their assistance and were even allowed to help balance the checkbook by sending out another contract. The NHL feels that this is a valid use of cap space as an asset to make a legitimate trade. So while it does create situations in which the rich get richer without otherwise having the cap space to do so, all parties are being reasonably compensated within the NHL rulebook. Teams may not like it, but that doesn’t make it illegal. And with the flat cap environment likely to continue for another year or two, this style of trade isn’t going away any time soon.

Cole Koepke Signs With Tampa Bay Lightning

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After seeing his teammate turn pro, Cole Koepke has also decided to sign his entry-level contract. The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed the University of Minnesota-Duluth forward to a two-year entry-level deal that will start in the 2021-22 season. Koepke has signed a professional tryout agreement with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL for the remainder of 2020-21.

The 22-year-old Koepke was selected in the sixth round of the 2018 draft and has spent the last three seasons racking up goals and points in the NCAA. In 2019-20 he was nearly a point-per-game forward with 33 in 34, and though that rate dipped a bit this season he was still nominated for the Hobey Baker Award as one of the nation’s best players.

He was ranked eighth among Corey Pronman’s list of drafted NCAA prospects who could elect free agency after the season for The Athletic. Normally a player would have to wait four years from his draft year to reach unrestricted free agency, but since Koepke was passed over and wasn’t selected until he had already turned 20, he doesn’t have to wait as long. It doesn’t actually matter now, as Koepke has decided to sign with the team that drafted him and start his pro career with Tampa Bay.

In January, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic suggested that Koepke could potentially develop into a third-line NHL talent. The 6’1″ winger is a volume shooter who put up 15 goals even in this year’s shortened season and continues to drive the puck to dangerous areas. Whether he’ll be able to continue that at the professional level isn’t clear, but even earning an entry-level deal after being a sixth-round pick is a win.

Trade Deadline Summary: Central Division

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The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone. A relatively slow day ended with a late burst, as many teams jumped into the mix at the last minute. How do you think your team did? Share your deadline grades in the comments for teams in the Central Division.

Carolina Hurricanes
Status: Buyer

In – F Cedric Paquette, D Jani Hakanpaa, D David Warsofsky, F Yegor Korshkov, 2022 sixth-round pick (ANA), 2022 seventh-round pick (CLB)
Out – F Ryan Dzingel, D Haydn Fleury, F Gregory Hofmann

Chicago Blackhawks
Status: Neutral

In – F Brett Connolly, F Vinnie Hinostroza, F Adam Gaudette, D Riley Stillman, F Henrik Borgstrom, F Josh Dickinson, F Ryder Rolston, 2021 second-round pick (VGK), 2022 third-round pick (VGK), 2021 fourth-round pick (MTL), 2021 seventh-round pick (FLA)
Out – F Mattias Janmark, F Carl Soderberg, F Matthew Highmore, F Lucas Wallmark, D Madison Bowey, D Lucas Carlsson, F Brad Morrison, 2021 fifth-round pick, 2022 fifth-round pick

Columbus Blue Jackets
Status: Seller

In – D Mikko Lehtonen, F Gregory Hofmann, 2021 first-round pick (TOR), 2021 first-round pick (TBL), 2022 third-round pick (TBL), 2022 fourth-round pick (TOR), conditional 2022 seventh-round pick (TOR)
Out – F Nick Foligno, D David Savard, F Riley Nash, G Veini Vehvilainen, 2022 seventh-round pick

Dallas Stars
Status: Neutral

In – None
Out – None

Detroit Red Wings
Status: Seller

In – F Jakub Vrana, F Richard Panik, F Hayden Verbeek, 2021 first-round pick (WAS), 2022 second-round pick (WAS), 2021 fourth-round pick (TBL), 2022 fourth-round pick (COL), 2021 fifth-round pick (OTT via MTL)
Out – F Anthony Mantha, D Patrik Nemeth, D Jon Merrill, D Brian Lashoff

Florida Panthers
Status: Buyer

In – F Sam Bennett, D Brandon Montour, F Lucas Wallmark, D Lucas Carlsson, F Brad Morrison, 2022 sixth-round pick (CGY)
Out – F Brett Connolly, F Vinnie Hinostroza, D Riley Stillman, F Henrik Borgstrom, F Emil Heineman, 2022 second-round pick, 2021 third-round pick, 2021 seventh-round pick

Nashville Predators
Status: Neutral

In – D Erik Gudbranson
Out – D Brandon Fortunato, 2023 seventh-round pick

Tampa Bay Lightning
Status: Buyer

In – D David Savard, D Fredrik Claesson, D Brian Lashoff, F Antoine Morand, conditional 2023 seventh-round pick
Out – F Alexander Volkov, G Magnus Chrona, 2021 first-round pick, 2022 third-round pick, 2021 fourth-round pick

Tampa Bay Lightning Acquire Fredrik Claesson

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have added some more depth to the blue line, acquiring Fredrik Claesson from the San Jose Sharks. The Lightning will send the rights to goaltending prospect Magnus Chrona back the other way. GM Julien BriseBois released a short statement on the deal:

Bringing in Fredrik allows us to have five left shot defensemen and six right shot defensemen with NHL experience on our reserve list. History has proven that you will need depth on defense if you are going to have an extended playoff run.

Claesson, 28, has played just nine NHL games since the beginning of the 2019-20 season, but likely won’t be asked to play much more than that for the Lightning unless they suffer some catastrophic injuries. The Lightning already added David Savard to solidify their top-four, and now have brought in a little more depth at the position as well.

He carries just a $700K contract and can report directly to the Tampa Bay taxi squad, meaning he does not affect the cap hit at all.

Chrona, 20, just finished his sophomore season at the University of Denver, where he put up a .907 save percentage in 18 appearances. Selected in the fifth round of the 2018 draft, the Swedish netminder would need to be signed to enter the Sharks development system.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic was first to report a deal was coming.

Nashville’s Michael McCarron Suspended Two Games For Illegal Check

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The Department of Player Safety announced that Nashville Predators forward Michael McCarron has been suspended two games for an illegal check to the head of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Yanni Gourde. The suspension will cost him $12,068.96.

The incident (video here) happened with just 25 seconds left in the third period of Saturday’s 3-0 loss against Tampa Bay when McCarron nailed Gourde with his shoulder in open ice, sending the forward to his knees. McCarron was given a two-minute penalty and then received a match penalty.

McCarron was playing his first game in almost a month and will not be missed in their lineup. The forward has appeared in just five games for the Predators this year with no points, while averaging under 10 minutes per game.

 

Tampa Bay Lightning Acquire David Savard

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Official now, the Tampa Bay Lightning have nabbed one of the best rentals on the market. The team has acquired David Savard as part of a three-team deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings.

  • To Lightning: David Savard, Brian Lashoff
  • To Blue Jackets: 2021 first-round pick (TBL), 2022 third-round pick (TBL)
  • To Red Wings: 2021 fourth-round pick (TBL)

Columbus and Detroit will both be retaining part of Savard’s $4.25MM cap hit. Columbus retained 50% of the contract in the first deal with Detroit, and then the Red Wings retained an additional 50% of what remained. That leaves the Lightning carrying just 25% of the $4.25MM, or $1.0625MM.

Three picks may seem like a lot to give up for a player on an expiring contract, but it was required in order to facilitate the salary retention. The Lightning now add a top-four defenseman that they can fit into their tight salary cap structure. GM Julien BriseBois is making something of a mockery of the cap system, as the Lightning are nearly $18MM over the cap ceiling thanks to their huge amount of salary on long-term injured reserve. Nikita Kucherov, who makes up $9.5MM of that LTIR salary, is expected back for the playoffs once the cap ceiling is no longer used.

This move, just like the other maneuvering the Lightning have done this season, pushes the limit of the CBA but has actually been done before. Last season the Toronto Maple Leafs were involved in the trade that sent Robin Lehner from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Vegas Golden Knights, retaining salary along the way in exchange for a draft pick. Like Tampa Bay, the Maple Leafs were deep into LTIR, meaning it didn’t really affect their cap situation by taking on some retained salary.

The outside-the-box thinking in Tampa Bay didn’t start with BriseBois. Former GM Steve Yzerman, who is now running the Red Wings, was known for his creative trade work; once again, he’s pulled off a deal to net an asset without giving up much of anything. Detroit gets a fourth-round pick just for a small salary commitment, but getting Lashoff and his $325K minor league guarantee off the books basically evens things out. The 30-year-old defenseman shouldn’t play much of a role for the Crunch and it wouldn’t even be surprising to see him loaned back to the Grand Rapids Griffins where he has played this season.

For Columbus, cashing in on Savard was a necessary move for GM Jarmo Kekalainen after the season did not go his way. The Blue Jackets have struggled for much of the year and it seemed unlikely that the team would re-sign Savard with other negotiations coming up. Landing a first and third for him should be considered a huge win, even if they will likely be extremely late picks thanks to Tampa Bay’s strong performance. Columbus has begun to start restocking the cupboard that was left so bare when they went all-in for the end of the 2019 season, acquiring the likes of Matt Duchene and Ryan Dzingel.

All three teams seem to come out ahead in this deal, not something that can often be said at the NHL trade deadline.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Lightning And Blue Jackets Working On David Savard Trade

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The Lightning have been cap-strapped all season long but have been looking to add to their back end.  It appears they’re making some progress on that front as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they are discussing a David Savard trade with the Blue Jackets.  TSN’s Frank Seravalli tweets that Savard has been notified of the trade although the exact return is not yet known.

Savard has been a reliable stay-at-home defenseman for the better part of the last decade, averaging more than 20 minutes per game in 597 career NHL contests, all with Columbus.  That had him positioned to be potentially the top blueliner to move between now and the trade deadline despite what has been a particularly quiet season by his standards.  He has just a goal and five assists in 40 games with a team-worst -19 rating and a career-low possession rate with a 43.1% Corsi mark.  However, given how much the Blue Jackets have struggled this season, he’s certainly a prime candidate to rebound and GM Jarmo Kekalainen knows that with the asking price in recent days for the pending unrestricted free agent involving a first-round pick.  Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic notes (via Twitter) that Columbus may indeed get that as part of the return and as we saw last year with the pickups of Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow, Lightning GM Julien BriseBois isn’t against moving first-rounders at this time of year.

With a $4.25MM cap hit, Columbus will almost certainly need to retain a sizable part of Savard’s contract to facilitate a move; they can retain as much as 50%.  Even so, with Tampa Bay having just $370K in LTIR room per CapFriendly, other moves will need to be made to make this happen.  If Jan Rutta is going to be out for the rest of the regular season, he could be shifted there which would add another $1.3MM to their already high LTIR pool which would help but not completely open up the space to do this deal.

If Tampa Bay is able to get this done, Savard would represent a big addition to their back end, a group that is already pretty strong at the top with Victor Hedman, Ryan McDonagh, Mikhail Sergachev, and Erik Cernak.  However, they’ve struggled to put a reliable third pairing together with none of their options playing more than Rutta’s 16:02 per night; Luke Schenn and Callan Foote have both seen somewhat regular minutes but are logging less than 13 minutes a game.  Adding Savard, someone who is capable of handling more than 20 minutes a game, certainly would bolster their depth and allow them to take a bit of pressure off their top-four down the stretch and give them some crucial injury insurance heading into the playoffs.

Trade Deadline Primer: Tampa Bay Lightning

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We are now less than a week away from the NHL Trade Deadline and talks are heating up. 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.

The defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning needed to look for a new challenge this season after stomping the competition in the 2020 postseason. They decided that if the league’s teams weren’t good enough to beat them, they would just take on the league itself. This season, the Lightning have stretched the NHL’s hard salary cap to it’s limit. Some might even throw the word “circumvention” out there. Tampa has managed to hold on to it’s extremely talented and fairly compensated roster due almost entirely due to the timely injury of Nikita Kucherov and the acquisitions of other injured players Marian Gaborik and Anders Nilsson. The Bolts have over $17MM in salary on Long-Term Injured Reserve – and they’ve used up all but $370,500 of it. There is zero space for the Lightning to do anything at the trade deadline beyond a minor depth addition, but they will get a major boost in the postseason with the return of Kucherov. Barring another opportunistic injury or a hockey trade that no one sees coming, the Bolts may have to settle for that this season.

Record

26-11-2, .692, 3rd in Central Division

Deadline Status

Stand Pat

Deadline Cap Space

$0MM in full-season space ($371K in LTIR space), 0/3 retention slots used, 45/50 contracts used per CapFriendly

Upcoming Draft Picks

2021: TBL 1st, TBL 3rd, TBL 4th, TBL 5th, TBL 6th, NJD 7th, NSH 7th, TBL 7th
2022: TBL 1st, TBL 3rd, TBL 4th, TBL 5th, TBL 6th, TBL 7th

Trade Chips

There is a difference between what the Lightning could offer and what they will offer, given that they are in no position to make much of a trade. It is unlikely that the team is going to move any of their roster players to open up space, so even though pieces like Tyler Johnson and Alex Killorn may seem expendable, it is hard to imagine the team trading them in-season as opposed to waiting for the off-season.

As a result, Tampa has little space to work with and that means their targets will not be high-priced pieces. The most likely result for the Bolts is that they add a cheap depth piece in exchange for a late pick or low-end prospect. Those are the “chips” that will probably move, if there is any move at all.

In the event that Tampa tries to make a bigger move, using the very limit of their salary cap potential despite the risks, they will still be looking at a picks-and-prospects scenario in this buyer’s market. Without a second-round pick for the next two years, the Lightning’s first-rounders are probably off the table unless they are asking a team to give up one of the top rentals on the market and retain the maximum 50% of his salary in order to make the deal work under the cap. The likelihood of such a deal is low. Expect for them instead to dangle multiple mid-round picks and prospects like Jack Finley or Jack Thompson if they really want to make a splash.

Others to Watch For: F Taylor Raddysh ($833K, RFA), F Boris Katchouk ($833K, RFA), F Alex Barre-Boulet ($759K, RFA), F Sam Walker (Draft Rights), D Eamon Powell (Draft Rights)

Team Needs

1) Defense – If, and it’s a big if, the Lightning are able to find a way to clear enough cap space to add a player of note at the deadline, it has to be on the blue line. The forward corps is deep and talented and will only get better once the postseason arrives and Kucherov can return. The net is well-manned, with Andrei Vasilevskiy enjoying another Vezina-caliber season. Both of those units remain largely unchanged from last season’s title-winning lineup. However, the defense has taken a hit. The top four is still stout, but the bottom pair and depth options range from young and inexperienced to old and ineffective. Tampa could really use a stabilizing force on the back end, especially with Jan Rutta sidelined and Erik Cernak dealing with a nagging injury. Of course, cost will be a factor. Without making a trade to move out salary, the Bolts can only open up another $1.5MM max and still be able to ice a full lineup, demoting the likes of Luke Schenn and Ben Thomas. That leaves the Bolts with a maximum $1.9MM or so to acquire a defenseman, but adding that much salary is a risk should another injury occur. The need is there, but the means to address it are problematic. The team likely thinks small with a value addition.

Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Odeen Tufto

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While the rest of the hockey world focuses on some high-profile college talent signing their entry-level contracts, the Tampa Bay Lightning have announced a more under-the-radar signing. Odeen Tufto has signed a one-year entry-level contract with the Lightning for the 2021-22 season and will report to the Syracuse Crunch on an amateur tryout for the rest of this season.

Tufto, 24, was one of the top undrafted college free agents after an incredible senior season that saw him score 47 points in just 29 games. That mark was good enough to make him a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award, but it isn’t all that much different than his other three seasons for Quinnipiac University. The 5’7″ forward put up totals of 41, 42 and 38 points in his first three years, meaning he’ll leave college with 168 points in 139 appearances. His 39 assists led the nation this season and he served as captain for Quinnipiac.

While he doesn’t project the same as someone like Cole Caufield, the only NCAA player to score more points than him this season, Tufto is a sneaky depth pickup for an organization that has never been afraid of adding undersized forward talent. The Lightning have made stars out of players like Tyler Johnson and Yanni Gourde, neither of whom were drafted despite elite offensive numbers in junior. It’s a long shot, but perhaps the Tampa Bay development staff can coax a similar performance out of Tufto, who has scored a boatload of points at every stop so far.

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