Clearing Cap

The beautiful thing about the Tampa Bay Lightning that I am not sure all fans appreciate it is how well they draft and develop. I don't think you need to lose Miller or Killhorn. Foote makes losing Stralman a lot easier and you can let some of those UFA and RFAs walk, the Lightning are loaded with prospects. The only issue I foresee, that a lot of team will have to deal with is the upcoming Seattle expansion draft. Like the Leafs and so many other good young teams, the Lightning will certainly lose a good young player. Otherwise, seems like they are good for a while, even with that massive Point contract.

Yzerman was definitely a guru when it comes to drafting, trading, and developing; BriseBois being his prodigy, makes it a much smoother transition. However, Yzerman's weakness is shown in his contracts. Johnson isn't worth the $5m we pay him anymore in my opinion, and his full-NTC until 2021 hinders our trading ability. Killorn at $4.45m for 6 years really hurts us, and he has a full-NTC until 2020, where it becomes a M-NTC. Callahan isn't worth $5.8m for two more years, especially with a M-NTC and a NMC. Of the 18 players on our roster, including Palat and Vasy who are currently injured, 13 have some sort of NTC or NMC.

I think we will need to make some trades here soon, because guys like Sergachev, Volkov, Raddysh, Katchouk, Joseph, Cirelli, Foote, Barre-Boulet, Sommpi, Spencer, Cernak, etc. will soon become regulars and will want more than $2m a year. Obviously that won't be for 4-5 years from now, but of those 13 guys with a NTC/NMC, 9 are signed until 2021-22. The cap crunch is real, and BriseBois is going to have to do some tricky maneuvering to make it work.

The cap crunch is real BUT the cap continues to go up year over year and although there is some uncertainly as to how much, and what the cap structure will be like after the new CBA is negotiated, there has been healthy growth. Let me put it this way, there are some teams that are cap-heavy with older slower players. The Kings come to mind, but with an continuous influx of youth, teams like the Lightning are weaving their way through this new, faster game with prospects that can handle that style of play. Sure there may be trades, perhaps of Tyler Johnson, and others, but the core will stick and the youth movement seems like it will continue. Don't be surprised if the Lightning draft Cal's brother this draft, by the way :P

In my mind, this is the core: Stamkos, Kucherov, Hedman, Palat, Gourde, Cirelli, Joseph, McDonagh, Sergachev, Foote, Vasilevskiy. I know Foote isn't technically on the team, but we are in desperate need of a young RHD. Miller and Johnson are both extremely streaky players and can be worth the $5.25m and $5m we pay them respectively, but at other times they aren't worth anything near that. I feel like their skill sets can be replaced fairly easily, although Johnson has been here since the beginning so it would be a morale blow, and we'll probably keep him around. Killorn is in the same boat, and I feel like he's overpaid. Joseph and Cirelli are both workhorses and can do pretty much everything we ask so they're pretty valuable.

As long as BriseBois can carry on Yzerman's legacy, and draft well (maybe some more defensemen), and possibly improve on how he hands out contracts, the Lightning will be fine for years to come.