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Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers To Share AHL Affiliate

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When news broke that three AHL teams would be pulling out of the 2020-21 season, it left a question of what the NHL affiliates would do with their minor league players and prospects. Today, news has come that the Florida Panthers, who are partnered normally with the opting-out Charlotte Checkers, will be sharing the Syracuse Crunch with the Tampa Bay Lightning this season. As part of the agreement, the Panthers will have the ability to assign players directly to the Crunch, though the original coaching staff will stay in place.

Both NHL general managers—Julien BriseBois of the Lightning and Bill Zito of the Panthers—released statements explaining the move and the excitement it should generate for Crunch fans. This kind of collaborative program will only improve the roster for Syracuse, giving them an even better chance of competing this season.

Still, it is certainly not ideal for the Panthers. Though they have a place for their prospects and depth players to play, it’s still easy to see how the Crunch coaching staff could lean slightly towards the development of Lightning prospects over them. Either way, in this unusual and unique season, it’s nice to see two rivals come together on something.

Boo Nieves To Attend Tampa Bay Training Camp

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Rangers South continues. The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed Boo Nieves to a professional tryout and will have him attend training camp with the team. The veteran forward has spent the last several years with the New York Rangers but became a Group VI unrestricted free agent this offseason.

Nieves, 26, was the 59th overall pick of the 2012 draft and spent four seasons at the University of Michigan before joining the Rangers organization. Since making his NHL debut in the 2016-17 season he has played in 76 total contests, barely qualifying for the Group VI threshold that allowed him to avoid restricted free agency. Unfortunately, that still doesn’t seem to have helped his case much as he now tries to secure an NHL contract with the Lightning, or at least demonstrate to another team around the league that he can still be a valuable depth piece.

The 6’3″ forward does have 19 points in those 76 games, despite averaging fewer than ten minutes of ice time. He also recorded 27 points in 43 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack last season, meaning at the very least he should be able to help an AHL squad somewhere around the league. Still, with brutal possession numbers and a loaded forward group ahead of him in Tampa Bay, it seems unlikely that he’ll see any NHL playing time even if he does earn a two-way contract.

Ryan Callahan Announces Retirement

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After being forced to miss last season due to injury, Ryan Callahan has officially announced his retirement.

In a message on Twitter, the veteran forward thanked everyone that had been a part of his 13-year career, including the New York Rangers for giving him a chance when they selected him 127th overall in 2004. Callahan would eventually become captain of the Rangers, not bad for a hard-working mid-round pick from the OHL.

Next, Callahan thanks the Tampa Bay Lightning, the second chapter in his NHL career where he spent the last five and a half seasons. More than his on-ice success, he thanks the Lightning for helping launch his charitable foundation.

A veteran of 757 regular season NHL games, Callahan twice made it to the Stanley Cup Finals but failed to lift the silver chalice over his head. His career will end with 386 points, but it’s his do-anything-it-takes attitude that teammates and fans will remember long after he’s gone. Joe Smith of The Athletic profiles Callahan for perhaps the final time, explaining how his career winded down in Tampa while getting some insight into where his life will lead him now.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Minor Transactions: 12/29/20

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Training camp is just a few days away and things are heating up in the hockey world. With waivers open and rosters being announced, minor transactions will come fast and furious all across the league. We’ll keep track of them right here.

  • Jordan Schmaltz will be attending training camp on a professional tryout with the Arizona Coyotes according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Schmaltz, 27, last played in the NHL during the 2018-19 season, suiting up for 20 games with the St. Louis Blues. The 25th overall pick in 2012, he was never able to really translate his game to the NHL level.
  • Speaking of the Blues, the team has announced that Alexei Toropchenko and Nikita Alexandrov have both been loaned overseas. Toropchenko will stay with Kunlun Red Star in the KHL where he has been playing, scoring eight points in 25 games so far this season. Alexandrov will head to KooKoo in Finland, where he will spend the season at the Liiga level. The Blues’ release notes that both players could be recalled when their European seasons end.
  • Spencer Abbott, who played two games at the NHL level before heading overseas, will continue his playing career in Germany during the upcoming season. The 32-year-old winger has signed in the DEL after spending the last two seasons playing in the SHL.
  • Tampa Bay Lightning prospect Gabriel Fortier has been traded in the QMJHL. The slick forward, in his final season of junior eligibility, has been moved by the Moncton Wildcats to the Shawinigan Cataractes, the team announced. The return is only a conditional pick, as Fortier could join the Lightning or more likely a minor league affiliate this season, in which case Shawinigan would get their pick back. If Tampa opts to return him to juniors though, then the Wildcats would receive at least a 2022 third-round pick but it could grow as high as a 2021 first-rounder depending on production. Fortier is no stranger to change after initially being acquired by Moncton midway through last season, only to finish the year with better than a point-per-game pace, earning the team’s captaincy to begin this year.
  • Defenseman Ty Murchison of the U.S. National Team Development Program has made his college choice. The young blue liner announced his commitment to Arizona State University today, continuing the program’s pipeline from California. The former L.A. Jr. King is a talented two-way defenseman who plays an aggressive style, currently leading the USNTDP U-18’s in penalty minutes. Murchison is expected to be a middle round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft before beginning his NCAA career next year.

Senators Acquire Braydon Coburn And Cedric Paquette

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It was only a matter of time before the Lightning made a move to get cap compliant for the upcoming season.  That move has now been made as they shipped defenseman Braydon Coburn, center Cedric Paquette, and a 2022 second-round pick to Ottawa in exchange for Marian Gaborik and Anders Nilsson.  Both teams have announced the move.

Recent contracts to Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak, and Anthony Cirelli pushed Tampa Bay well above the $81.5MM cap ceiling, even with winger Nikita Kucherov being ruled out for the entire regular season due to a hip injury.  While Gaborik and Nilsson carry combined cap hits of $7.475MM, both have been ruled out for the season and can be added to their LTIR pool which now stands at $16.975MM with Kucherov’s deal included.  By clearing out Coburn ($1.7MM) and Paquette ($1.65MM), the Lightning sit $15.816MM over the salary cap.  With that amount being lower than their LTIR pool, they’re now back in cap compliance.

Meanwhile, the Senators pick up a pair of veterans for two players they weren’t going to be able to use this season anyway while recouping a second-rounder to replace the one they parted with yesterday to acquire Derek Stepan from Arizona.

Coburn becomes the elder statesman of Ottawa’s back end.  The 35-year-old played in 40 games for Tampa Bay last season, picking up a goal and three assists while averaging 14:03 per game.  He had a limited role in their Stanley Cup run, suiting up just three times.  The pending unrestricted free agent will likely have a depth role in Ottawa though he will serve as injury insurance.

As for Paquette, the 27-year-old has been an effective fourth-line energy player for the Lightning the last several years.  In 2019-20, he had one of his better offensive seasons, notching seven goals and 11 assists in 61 games; his assist total was a new career-high.  He will bring some more physicality to Ottawa’s lineup, an element they have brought in quite a bit of this offseason in winger Austin Watson plus blueliners Erik Gudbranson and Josh Brown.  Paquette is also slated to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Tampa Bay’s clear preference this offseason was to try to clear Tyler Johnson’s $5MM price tag as evidenced by the fact they put him on waivers back in October after they couldn’t find a taker for him in a trade.  While that one fell through, this is a pretty good Plan B for Julien BriseBois who was able to get the team back to compliance without having to trade a core player away due to Kucherov’s injury.  There will still be work to be done as with $85MM in commitments for 2021-22 already, they’re already over the expected cap for 2021-22 which should be at or very close to the current $81.5MM Upper Limit.  But that’s a problem for another day; for now, they’re good to go.

2020 Year In Review: February

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2020 has certainly been a unique year away from the rink.  However, it’s also a year that has featured several big trades and free agent signings, coaching changes, and much more.  Over the coming days, PHR will take a look back at the top stories from around the game on a month-by-month basis.  We continue with a look back at February.

Byfuglien Situation Explained: The Winnipeg Jets spent a good chunk of their season in confusion at the sudden announcement during training camp that star defenseman Dustin Byfuglien was taking a leave of absence with little to no explanation. That decision prompted the team to suspend Byfuglien, then he countered with a grievance through the NHLPA. The blueliner also underwent ankle surgery shortly after the season began. However, after months of waiting, the team got some clarification regarding Byfuglien as it was reported that Byfuglien has not even skated as of Feb. 1 and he wasn’t expected to return at all during the season. Suddenly two days later, it was reported that the Jets and Byfuglien were discussing a mutual contract termination. That led to trade rumors with the Jets trying to move Byfuglien at the trade deadline. Of course the saga continued for several more months, but February was the first month where it became quite clear that the Jets not only weren’t getting Byfuglien back any time soon, but the two parties’ were headed for a divorce.

Major Injuries: As February rolled on, injuries became a major notation in the season as many teams lost key players for significant times and many for the season (had the playoffs not been delayed until August due to COVID-19). The Sharks were the first to announce that Tomas Hertl was out for the season, a big blow for the struggling Sharks. Next, Chicago’s Brent Seabrook underwent his third surgery, followed by Seth Jones, who was expected to be out indefinitely, a major loss for the defensive Blue Jackets. Of course, the suspension of play did allow Jones to return for the playoffs. The injuries continued to pile up, including San Jose’s Erik Karlsson, Vancouver’s Brock Boeser, Toronto’s Andreas Johnsson, Winnipeg’s Brian Little and Montreal’s Shea Weber. Some were able to return for the playoffs, but those injuries crippled several teams.

Paul Maurice Extended: Despite the team’s struggles and even some light rumors that the Winnipeg Jets might consider a coaching change, the Winnipeg Jets instead signed head coach Paul Maurice to a three-year extension, who has been leading the squad since 2013. While Maurice hasn’t been able to get the Jets deep into the playoffs and the team has seen quite a few early-round exits over the years, the veteran coach has helped the Jets post impressive numbers over the years. Maurice had tallied a 264-186-53 record at the time of the extension and had kept Winnipeg above water last season despite the depletion of their defense.

Bouwmeester collapes: The St. Louis Blues suffered a shock when veteran defenseman Jay Bouwmeester suffered a cardiac event while sitting on the bench during a game against the Anaheim Ducks on Feb. 11. He collapsed behind the bench and trainers and physicians rushed to his aid and saved his life and was later taken the the hospital. He was doing “very well” the following day and underwent successful surgery two days after that. He was labeled out for the season and the playoffs two weeks later. His playing career looks to be over, but the 37-year-old is doing well.

Trade Deadline: The trade deadline came and went with dozens of trades that filled the transaction wires. While many significant names passed throughout the month, perhaps the most significant trades were made by the Tampa Bay Lightning (hint: the eventual Stanley Cup Champions). The Lightning traded for New Jersey Devils power forward Blake Coleman, giving up prospect Nolan Foote and Vancouver’s 2020 first-round pick. A week later, the Lightning were at it again, acquiring another physical forward, Barclay Goodrow, in exchange for their own 2020 first-rounder. While Tampa Bay was the obvious winner, many significant names changed hands, including Robin Lehner, Nick Cousins and Alec Martinez (to Vegas); Tyler Toffoli (to Vancouver); Ondrej Kase and Nick Ritchie (to Boston); Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Andy Greene (to New York Islanders); Tyler Ennis, Andreas Athanasiou and Mike Green (to Edmonton); Brendan Dillon and Ilya Kovalchuk (to Washington) amongst many other significant deals.

Anthony Cirelli Re-Signs With Tampa Bay Lightning

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed their last key restricted free agent, inking Anthony Cirelli to a three-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $4.8MM and keeps Cirelli under contract through the 2022-23 season. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets out the full details, noting that it is the exact same deal that Mikhail Sergachev signed earlier this offseason:

  • 2020-21: $900K salary + $1.5MM signing bonus
  • 2021-22 $3.3MM salary + $1.5MM signing bonus
  • 2022-23: $7.2MM salary

When the Lightning walked to the podium to select Cirelli in the middle of the third round back in 2015, they never could have imagined what he would turn into five years later. At that point, he had only one year of OHL hockey under his belt, and though the Oshawa Generals were successful, he certainly wasn’t the one most fans were watching. Michael Dal Colle, the fifth-overall pick from 2014 was on that team and led the Generals all the way to the Memorial Cup, scoring 31 points in 21 playoff games. Cirelli scored only two goals in the playoffs for Oshawa, but he was already showing the elite work ethic and defensive ability that would become his calling card.

When Dal Colle was traded to the Kingston Frontenacs partway through the 2015-16 season, it was Cirelli who took over the captain’s “C” for Oshawa. He would also get his first taste of AHL action at the end of that season, suiting up three times for the Syracuse Crunch. Cirelli would then go on to win another OHL Championship and a World Junior silver medal in 2016-17, never losing that shutdown defensive mindset in the process.

Now, just two full seasons into his NHL career, everything he did for Oshawa (and Erie, and then Syracuse) he is doing for the Lightning. The 23-year-old center is one of the very best defensive players in the entire league, allowing almost no production from opponents when he is on the ice. He’s married that defensive acumen with improving offensive ability that resulted in 44 points in 68 games this season. Though his offense took a backseat to the superstar forwards on Tampa Bay in the playoffs, there’s little doubt how valuable Cirelli is to the team.

At a $4.8MM cap hit, he’ll continue to be a key part of the team’s lineup for the next three years. That number already likely doesn’t live up to the value Cirelli brings and if his development continues it could be a laughably low amount very soon. The bridge deal will also leave him as a restricted free agent one last time, meaning the Lightning will have a chance to ink a big, long-term deal with Cirelli in 2023.

How can they fit another high cap hit in? Nikita Kucherov’s injury is providing some relief, but this number is high enough that the Lightning will likely need to make another move before the season begins. CapFriendly tweeted out several explanations of how they’re even allowed to file a contract like this, which takes Tampa Bay nearly $12MM over the cap ceiling for the time being. Their projected cap hit is nearly $2.2MM over the $91MM that the team will be allowed to build assuming Kucherov goes on long-term injured reserve, meaning either some creative moves or a trade will be necessary in the coming weeks.

Still, even if it costs the Lightning one of their other bloated contracts, getting Cirelli locked up at a reasonable number is some strong work from GM Julien BriseBois. The team’s younger core of Kucherov, Cirelli, Sergachev, Brayden Point, and Andrei Vasilevskiy are now all locked in for at least the next two seasons, with the veteran stars—including Victor Hedman, who only turned 30 a few days ago—all still on workable numbers.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Nikita Kucherov To Undergo Hip Surgery

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The Tampa Bay Lightning may have solved their cap problem, but it’s at the expense of one of the best players in the world. GM Julien Brisbois told reporters including Joe Smith of The Athletic that Nikita Kucherov will need hip surgery and will not play in this regular season. Kucherov can now be moved to long-term injured reserve to give the team more cap flexibility and return in the playoffs (if healthy) when there is no salary cap.

Still, this is certainly not an ideal situation for the Lightning as they look to defend their Stanley Cup championship. Kucherov is without a doubt a difference-maker on the ice and easily could have been awarded the Conn Smythe after leading the playoffs in scoring with 34 points in 25 games. The 2019 Hart, Lindsey, and Art Ross winner, the Russian winger had a career-high 128 points two seasons ago before returning with 85 in 68 during a pandemic-shortened 2019-20.

Moving his $9.5MM cap hit to LTIR though can open some interesting scenarios for the Lightning. Steven Stamkos, the team’s other injured superstar, is expected to be ready for opening day, meaning the team may actually have a few more moves to come. Even with the added flexibility of putting Kucherov on reserve, the team still only has about $3.5MM in space to sign breakout checking center Anthony Cirelli, who remains a restricted free agent. Though Cirelli doesn’t have a ton of leverage right now if he wants to play this season, it still seems unlikely that he signs for less than that unless it is an extremely short-term deal.

More likely, the team is still going to have to pursue other opportunities to shed one of their high-priced forwards. Tyler Johnson was the obvious option earlier this summer when he agreed to give the team a short list of trade destinations, but nothing was worked out and even when the Lightning placed him on waivers, he went unclaimed. Johnson, Ondrej Palat, and Yanni Gourde all count for at least $5MM against the cap this season and all have full no-trade clauses. Alex Killorn, who is the next highest-paid forward behind those three at $4.45MM has a 16-team no-trade clause.

Of course, there may be some other more creative ways around the cap given this year’s taxi squad rules. In any case, the team will have to secure a playoff spot without their most dangerous offensive weapon—not a great situation in an anything-can-happen shortened season.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Alexander Volkov, Mathieu Joseph

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The Tampa Bay Lightning continue to wrap up negotiations with their restricted free agents, this time signing Alexander Volkov to a one-year, one-way contract according to his agent Dan Milstein of Gold Star Hockey. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic tweets that the deal is worth $700K. The team has also announced a two-year, one-way contract for Mathieu Joseph which will carry an average annual value of $737,500.

Volkov, 23, is a very interesting player to watch this season in Tampa Bay, given how tight they are to the cap and how inexpensive he now will be. Selected 48th overall in 2017 he has done nothing but dominate at the minor league level, scoring 55 goals and 123 points in 195 games with the Syracuse Crunch since debuting in 2017. In 2019-20 he played nine games with the Lightning, scoring just a single point but flashing the same interesting mix of speed and skill that makes him dangerous in the minor leagues.

If you want to know how highly Volkov is regarded by the Lightning coaching staff and front office, remember that he dressed in a single playoff game this summer. That happened to be game six of the Stanley Cup Final, when Tampa Bay clinched a series win over the Dallas Stars to become champions.

Joseph meanwhile, who is also 23, actually already has 107 games under his belt with the Lightning and will get a chance to add to that total this season. The fourth-round pick from 2015 has a well-rounded game that can play up or down the lineup and he proved he could contribute offensively when given the chance in 2018-19. Joseph scored 13 goals and 26 points in 70 games with the Lightning that season, despite averaging just over 11 minutes a night. Though his offensive numbers dropped to just seven points in 37 games this year, he is still a valuable depth piece that the team now has locked up at a bargain price.

The Lightning may have cap problems that they need to sort out, but players like Volkov and Joseph represent exactly why they are such a tough organization to beat. They’ve built arguably the strongest player development pipeline in the entire league, which continues to churn out NHL-level talents each year out of mid-round picks or trade throw-ins. Even if they have to move on from some of their more high profile talents, they have the depth to fill out the roster internally (while also being an appealing destination for free agents).

Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Erik Cernak, Jan Rutta

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have reached agreements with a pair of free agent defensemen, signing Erik Cernak and Jan Rutta. Cernak’s new three-year contract will carry an average annual value of $2.95MM, while Rutta’s two-year pact will come in at a $1.3MM AAV.

’How can the Lightning afford that,’ you might ask yourself, but reports have recently surfaced that the team could potentially be without Nikita Kucherov to start the year. If the superstar is forced onto long-term injured reserve, the team could potentially use his $9.5MM in cap space for replacements. The move would be complicated, especially if Kucherov returned at some point during the regular season, but could give the Lightning the flexibility needed to sign these two and the still restricted free agent Anthony Cirelli.

Cernak, 23, is another success story for the amateur scouting department, as he was acquired by the team before he ever played a professional game. Selected 43rd overall by the Los Angeles Kings in 2015, Cernak was part of the surprising Ben Bishop trade in 2017 that saw the veteran netminder head across the country as Andrei Vasilevskiy took over the top job. Bishop would only end up playing in seven total games for the Kings, who still had Jonathan Quick, and would then sign with the Dallas Stars in the offseason.

The Lightning would continue Cernak’s development in the minor leagues, but it took just one AHL season for him to show he was ready for the next step. The dependable, big-bodied Slovak has played 125 regular season games over the last two seasons in Tampa Bay and was a big part of the team’s Stanley Cup run this summer. While he’ll likely never be a big point producer, he balances out the back end and allows more offensive players to take some chances.

Rutta meanwhile was never drafted, but the Lightning acquired him from the Chicago Blackhawks in 2019 as part of a depth defender swap. Sending the disappointing Slater Koekkoek—who had been a tenth overall pick—the other way, Rutta became a valued member of the Lightning and has now signed two new deals with the team.

Though he only played in 33 regular season games and five playoff contests, Rutta is a perfect depth option for the Lightning that can move in and out of the lineup this season, or even spend some time on the taxi squad. Tampa Bay brought back Luke Schenn on an inexpensive contract for a similar reason, but did lose names like Kevin Shattenkirk and Zach Bogosian from their championship roster.

Make no mistake, this is a difficult puzzle for the Lightning to put together even with the Kucherov news. The team is now quite a bit over the salary cap ceiling and still has Cirelli to sign (not to mention Mathieu Joseph and Alexander Volkov).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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