Équipe: 2018-19 Lightning de Tampa Bay

Date de création initiale: 26 juin 2018

Publié: 27 juin 2018

Mode - plafond salarial: Basique

The Hurricanes need veteran defensemen who aren't defensive liabilities, and can afford Coburn's cap for that purpose. The Golden Knights have plenty of cap space and need a dependable and experienced veteran leader, and are a team Callahan would likely not include on his no-trade list.

The Lightning may benefit short-term from a deal like this, but may have to sacrifice depth to make it work. I plan to make an additional roster for next season to see how much depth can be salvaged with Tavares on a contract like this.

Tavares is unlikely to agree to Yzerman's cap ceiling regardless of Florida tax policies, and the Lightning can't afford much more, hence, this scenario is probably unrealistic.

In my lines from below, I wouldn't exactly call the top a "first line" compared to the second and third. Palat and Johnson tend to play well together, though, and would add defensive responsibility to Stamkos' skill. Point and Gourde also tend to play well together. Point is the team's best defensive forward, and Gourde is known for checking and creating space, which could go well with someone like Kucherov who isn't great defensively but is an elite scorer. Taves, obviously, is an elite player, Miller can check and create space, and Killorn is relatively useful as a winger and can serve his purpose on a line like that. Cirelli has earned a spot in the lineup and there's a good chance Stephens makes it out of training camp. Conacher has scored important goals before, and for a fourth line, the combination should be enough to get important goals without giving up dangerous opportunities. Meanwhile, no team can possibly shut down all three of those lines - the question is whether or not they can be maintained. Cooper changes lines a lot, so it's doubtful that initial combinations will stay, and, if they're comfortably in a playoff spot, they have time to experiment.

Defensively, Koekkoek deserves a chance, and Hunt doesn't really fit with the Golden Knights, but can serve for the Lightning if Koekkoek goes through a bad stretch or if there's an injury. Foote is also a possibility.

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