Tampa Worst Case

And they role with a roster of 20? This is just not real world stuff.

Only for the start of the season. As they accrue cap they can have a little more space by the deadline to carry a few extra league min bodies. ABB for half a season is what 350K? Sean Day for half a season is 350K. Just gonna have to micro manage the call ups.
If the league works a taxi roster with the whole covid/bubble thing it might give them some wiggle room

This doesn't work for the players. They need one year for arbitration, they will sign it's just a matter of when.
Once they hit arbitration the team will either trade or pay. But I doubt it comes to that.

I agree. I'm just saying Tampa has more time and options than people give them credit for. If the season starts tomorrow and the only deal on the table is Kucherov for a 7th, if it's the difference between doing nothing and making the team far worse long term then they do nothing.
They probably pay to move Johnson. The probably pay to move another NTC. But they've got time to make a deal. We dont even have a start date for the season. We might not even have a season.

I just want something to happen. THese guys have painted themselves into a corner, but it's one of the best problems to have. You're young players you drafted and developed are legit awesome and helped you win a cup. Figure it out TB...I wanna see what happens