It has been a troublesome offseason for the Tampa Bay Lightning. After being eradicated within the first spherical of the NHL playoffs, a decent wage cap pressured basic supervisor (GM) Julien BriseBois to maneuver gamers the staff would have hoped to see on the roster firstly of the 2023-24 season in October.
The signing of Tanner Jeannot doubtless alerts the top of many of the Lightning’s main strikes this offseason. On July 15, the staff introduced that it had signed the restricted free agent to a two-year contract with a median annual worth (AAV) of $2.665 million. He was acquired from the Nashville Predators in trade for defenseman Cal Foote, Tampa Bay’s first-round decide within the 2025 NHL Draft, its second-round decide in 2024, in addition to third-, fourth-, and fifth-round picks in 2023.
In line with PuckPedia, the Lightning are $6.58 million over the cap with 22 gamers on the roster after signing Jeannot. Nevertheless, they’ll high the cap as much as $6.875 million with Brent Seabrook on long-term injured reserve, leaving them with $297,500 of accessible cap house.
With restricted sources, Brisebois pulled off three necessary strikes that may nonetheless see the Lightning qualify for a Stanley Cup title within the 2023-24 season.
Negotiate Ross Colton
It actually wasn’t a simple resolution, however the Lightning traded Ross Colton to the Colorado Avalanche for a second-round decide, thirty seventh total, within the 2023 NHL Draft. A big a part of the choice was that the Lightning acquired a higher-than-expected draft decide, as many pundits believed they might solely get a third-round choice for the 26-year-old ahead. After the commerce, Colton, a restricted free agent, signed a four-year, $4 million AAV contract with the Avalanche, which the Lightning couldn’t afford with their wage cap restrictions.
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Choosing a primary draft decide made that call extraordinarily necessary, because the Lightning solely had picks within the sixth and seventh rounds on account of buying and selling these picks in earlier years to bolster their roster for the playoffs. They have been ready to make use of this choice to draft ahead Ethan Gauthier, who many consider would have been chosen within the first spherical.
Gauthier is the son of former NHL participant Denis Gauthier and cousin of Julien Gauthier, who performed for the Ottawa Senators and New York Rangers final season. Throughout his profession within the Quebec Main Junior Hockey League with the Sherbrooke Phoenix, Gauthier stood out for his persistent and ruthless potential to assault and set up a forecheck. He’s consistently concerned, searching for free pucks within the corners, partaking in battles to separate the participant from the puck to regain possession.
Getting that sort of worth within the draft helps keep away from dropping such a key a part of the Lightning’s current playoff success.
Conor Sheary signing
With a deep free agent pool, the Lightning have been capable of finding bargains within the free agent market. One of many largest was the signing of Conor Sheary to a three-year contract price AAV of $2 million. The native of Winchester, Mass., performed in all 82 video games for the Washington Capitals final season, scoring 15 objectives and 37 factors with a plus-9 differential. He ranked fourth on the staff in objectives, fifth in factors, and tied for second in plus/minus.
Extra importantly, Sheary brings a champion pedigree that Lightning worth. The 31-year-old received back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017, together with scoring the time beyond regulation winner in Recreation 2 of the 2016 Cup Last. He performed in 72 profession Stanley Cup Playoff video games with the Penguins and Capitals, recording seven objectives and 23 factors. Sheary has been a strong mid-six possibility for the Penguins and Capitals and will present a greater than sufficient alternative for the Colton loss on the favorable worth the Lightning wanted.
Jonas Johansson signing
One of the necessary positions over the past two seasons for the Lightning has been as backup goaltender. It’s because Andrei Vasilevskiy has performed so many video games over the previous few seasons that the workload caught up with him final season as his efficiency suffered from fatigue and nagging accidents. With former backup Brian Elliott retiring, the Lightning wanted to search out some worth in signing their subsequent backup. They did so with the signing of Johansson to a two-year deal price AAV of $775,000.
Johansson performed 35 profession NHL video games with the Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers and Buffalo Sabers. He additionally appeared in 69 profession video games within the American Hockey League (AHL) with the Colorado Eagles, Charlotte Checkers and Rochester Individuals, amassing a 39-21-6 file with a 2.56 goals-against-average (GAA) and .911 save share (SV%). The Sabers’ draft decide got here within the NHL after posting robust numbers within the Swedish Hockey League with Brynas IF. The 27-year-old was caught on the Avalanche’s depth chart behind Alexandar Georgiev and Pavel Francouz, permitting the Lightning to signal a bargain-basement participant who has upsides.
Whereas a number of fashionable gamers have left the staff, current signings have allowed the Lightning to get a bit extra pace of their bottom-six ahead group that will even deliver NHL and playoff expertise to their roster. Underneath the constraints of a decent wage cap, the Lightning have recruited gamers who will give them an opportunity to make one other run at a Stanley Cup title within the 2023-24 season.
