Here are 5 things the Lightning have to address this offseason
TAMPA — Following a second straight first-round playoff exit, the Lightning’s focus turns to a busy offseason.
There are plenty of items on general manager Julien BriseBois’ to-do list, nothing more important than re-signing captain Steven Stamkos, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. BriseBois also hopes to engage defenseman Victor Hedman, whose contract runs out after next season, in extension talks.
If BriseBois can turn the two faces of the franchise over the past decade and a half into career Bolts, the offseason will be a success.
It was a frustrating end to the season for the Lightning, falling to the Panthers in five games, but all were close and the team believes it isn’t far from making another deep playoff run.
“We want to stay competitive, we want to continue,” BriseBois said. “We have a nucleus of really good players. We have a great coaching staff. We’ve built a really strong culture. It takes time to accumulate all these pieces and get to the point we’re at now. We want to extend that as (long as) possible in a world where cap space is limited and comes at a premium. You have to make wise decisions.”
With that, here are five things the Lightning have to address this offseason.
Locking up Stamkos and Hedman
When Stamkos took a below-market deal to remain in Tampa Bay in 2016, he began a trend of Lightning players taking less money to help build a winning team. There was savvy to the deals made by former GM Steve Yzerman and BriseBois, but when you look at the team’s top stars — Stamkos, Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy and Brayden Point — all could have made more money elsewhere but chose to be part of something special here.
“That’s just what everyone’s done here,” Stamkos said. “And that’s why we’ve had the success, and that’s just been the way it’s been for this organization. I think that, in itself, is a testament to management and how they want to build a team and, first and foremost, the players for wanting to do that and accept that and allow the management to go out there and build the roster to compete for the Stanley Cup.”
Stamkos and Hedman have now won a pair of Cups together, and the idea of playing their entire career with one franchise means a great deal to both. They want to stay here, and after 15 years of working to help turn the Lightning into one of the league’s best franchises, they want to do so together.
Of course, there’s sentiment and then there’s business. But the sentiment is strong for both players because of the lives and careers they’ve built in Tampa Bay. Both believe the window to win is open, so as long as the team can find the money and they don’t feel disrespected by the offers, they should be here for the long haul.
“This is all we know, like, since since day one opening our NHL career here,” Hedman said. “And we just want to win for ourselves and the guys in that room, and for our fans and the community as well.”
Annual clearing of cap space
Keeping the core group together without losing important supplemental pieces is difficult, and the Lightning have had to trade away players they wanted to keep due to the cap, whether it was Tyler Johnson or Ryan McDonagh or, last offseason, Ross Colton.
This offseason might be no different, and if the Lightning are going to gain the cap benefit of moving a big contract it likely will be a big name. BriseBois views some of the team-friendly contracts to which he’s signed players as assets. Asked whether he might need to move an existing contract to sign Stamkos and Hedman, he said nothing is off the table.
One player to watch is Anthony Cirelli, because he’s the only member of the group of locked-in players who doesn’t have a no-trade clause this summer. It would be difficult to see the Lightning move a player like Cirelli, their second-line center, top two-way forward and a huge part of their top-five penalty kill.
Great teams are built down the middle, and the Lightning’s depth at the center position is strong from top to bottom with Brayden Point, Cirelli, Nick Paul and Luke Glendening. So, are you losing more than you’re gaining by moving a player like Cirelli? Keep in mind that Stamkos could move into a centerman role, and Cirelli carries a $6.25 million hit for the next seven years, a sizable chunk for a long period of time.
That said, when BriseBois needed to unload cap space after the 2021-22 season, he worked with McDonagh through his full no-trade clause to help him land somewhere he was comfortable. He could do that again with a player like defenseman Erik Cernak ($5.2 million hit for the next seven seasons), but those kinds of trades don’t seem to net much and often involve retained salary.
Another roster reload
Outside of Stamkos, the Lightning will have seven unrestricted free agents this summer. Many probably won’t return, so there’s going to be several new faces next season. BriseBois said he will seek to add pieces at both the forward and defenseman positions that will help the team allow fewer even-strength goals.
“We scored enough goals, we just gave up a lot of goals 5-on-5,” BriseBois said. “And at certain points, it was for different reasons. Sometimes it’s goaltending, sometimes the defensemen, sometimes the forwards, sometimes it was the combinations, sometimes it was the forecheck, sometimes it was the breakout.”
Among those free agents, expect the team’s one Group 6 free agent, forward Mitchell Chaffee, to re-sign quickly. He’s a lot like Mikey Eyssimont a year earlier, a player who found great opportunity with the Lightning. After becoming an NHL regular for the first time, Chaffee really has no reason to leave. Players like forward Austin Watson, and defensemen Haydn Fleury and Calvin de Haan were mostly out of the lineup down the stretch and are likely to depart. They don’t make much, so the challenge will be filling their spots with contracts close to the league minimum.
Trade-deadline acquisitions Anthony Duclair and Matt Dumba could return, but they appear to be luxuries, especially since the only reason the Lightning could add them was because Mikhail Sergachev went on long-term injured reserve. Both enjoyed playing here and were strong additions to the dressing room but they made $3 million and $3.9 million, respectively.
One interesting UFA to follow is Tyler Motte, who was a valuable bottom-six forward after signing late in the offseason. Motte saw time at wing and center and was a big contributor to the PK, even scoring two short-handed goals. He does a lot of little things that will help the Lightning’s efforts to get better defensively.
Lingering injury concerns
BriseBois on Wednesday recited a laundry list of injuries the Lightning played through late in the season.
Sergachev, who returned for Game 4 less than three months after breaking the fibula and tibia bones in his left leg, will undergo a procedure to remove screws that attached the metal rod used to stabilize the broken bones. But after two weeks of rehab, Sergachev said, he will start skating earlier this offseason.
“I’m pretty much the freshest guy here,” he said. “So I’ll probably start skating in June and be ready for camp.”
Conor Sheary’s first season of a three-year, $2 million average annual value contract didn’t live up to expectations, but BriseBois said Sheary had played with a torn tendon in his finger since Dec. 30. Combine Sheary’s early season injury issues and difficulties finding his role with a new team, and his struggles are understandable. BriseBois said Sheary will be seeing a specialist and could need offseason surgery.
Another notable injury was an AC joint shoulder sprain suffered by defenseman Nick Perbix in Game 1. He played just one more game in the series. The steadiness Perbix showed getting the puck out of his zone as a rookie was absent for most of his second season. If he had been battling through an injury, it might help explain it.
Another ‘regular’ offseason
In retrospect, having a longer offseason after last season’s first-round playoff loss benefitted several players, including older cornerstones like Hedman and Stamkos.
“The body feels good. I feel great. No issues whatsoever,” said Hedman, who returned to elite-defenseman form with a 76-point season after compiling just 49 a year earlier. “A credit to a little bit of a longer summer last year and, unfortunately, it’s going to be the same thing again this year.
“But this gives me another opportunity to stay on top of things and just keep working hard and try to get better. Even though you’re getting older, you can still work with stuff and get better as a player. The way my body feels and the way my mind feels, it feels like I have a lot of good hockey left in me.”
Vasilevskiy, who found his form late in the season after missing the first two months following back surgery, said his offseason won’t include the powerlifting squats that led to his initial back injury in the offseason.
“I felt great,” Vasilevskiy said. “We’ll be smarter about next season. I’ll probably change my preseason training a little bit, because l I still have to fix it 100% going into the next season.”
Kucherov’s quick return to the ice after last season’s early playoff exit was well-documented. Asked Wednesday how long he planned to take off before getting back on the ice, he said, “I’m not going to tell you.” So, in other words, expect him to be back quickly.
• • •
Sign up for the Sports Today newsletter to get daily updates on the Bucs, Rays, Lightning and college football across Florida.
Never miss out on the latest with your favorite Tampa Bay sports teams. Follow our coverage on Instagram, X and Facebook.
