Yes, that is, indeed, Tampa's problem this off-season.

I think they’ll be okay

I'm going to be fascinated by seeing what the Lightning do.

So am I to be honest. But I have always felt when its all said and done both Cirelli and Sergachev will be on the Lightning (teams just dont give up these types of players and try and keep them at all costs).

Now how they get there is going to be fascinating indeed.

do any of those players waive their NTC's, probably not

Its such a specific predicament they're in though. Not only is the cap not going up as previously expected, they got big name RFA's to resign, UFA's they'd want to move have NMC/NTC and TB is one of the most desirable places to play making convincing those players to waive elsewhere very hard. Only a few teams have the cap space to add 5M+ players to begin with and they have to be on those players trade lists.....

Of course they'll be "okay". Has any team ever not been cap complaint at the start of the year? They'll probably convince their RFA's to take short term low cap deals to buy them more time and eventually the ol' boys club will help a fellow GM out with some of their players but it won't come for free. The real thing I want to know is, how much will it cost them to be compliant this year? Making approx 15M in cap disappear is a lot harder to do this year than in other years to boot with the a certain amount of teams probably imposing an internal cap.

I suspect TB will have to do some Vegas expansion level bargaining with teams to make the cap work and I'm almost certain it won't be a 3rd rounder to get it done. They'll lose some trades to make it work but that is the cost of being a team of all-stars.

On the bright side though, TB could literally pay teams to take those 3 guys off their hands and still be a superstar team and not even feel the effects of it with the way they are churning out NHL'ers. For a team that's poised for a few cup runs in a row, they really can't lose sleep of this. Get'r done and move on.

Maybe for more playing time / elevated role. Look how JT Miller broke out this year given an elevated role. But I do agree, Tampa is a great place to play. There’s a lot reasons to not waive

I had an idea for the cap problem.

Trade Johnsson + Sergechev to Detroit for Hronek + a 2nd.

Dcore for Tampa becomes

Hedman-Hronek
McDonagh-Cernak
Coburn-Foote
Schenn

and that honestly aint bad.

But why does Detroit do that? Hronek and Sergachev are lateral but one is going to be a bit more expensive next year and T.J. doesn’t fit our window. On top we add a 2nd which is essentially a late first. Detroit will definitely take Sergachev off your hands but it would be to add to Hronek and Seider.

A detroit fan was the one who proposed it and other fans of the team liked it. Cause if they draft Drysdale and Yzerman seems keen on grabbing him, Hronek is expendable. And getting a top 4 LHD in Sergechev would help out detroits blue line. Plus Johnsson can play 3c very well allowing for Detroit to put Fabbri on the 2nd LW. So while they lose a late 2nd they grab 2 very good players to help boost their teams rebuild.

within a year Detroits blue line becomes

Sergechev-Seider
Dekeysmer-Drysdale
Nemeth-Lindstrome

Sergy > Seider. That’s an improvement for Detroit

You honestly nailed it on that idea. I like it. Something around Sergy + Johnson for Hronek + is a great move for both teams. Then Detroit can draft Drysdale. I love that idea

think of it like this Top 4 expensive LHD out and In comes a 2 way top 4 RHD for 714k. Also remember who is the Wings GM. The old GM of the lightning and he knows the situation they are in and will be ready to pounce. In general while Detroit loses a late 2nd and takes on Johnsson they get Sergechev. Who would basically become their 1st pair LHD with Seider.

it wasnt even me who came up entirely with it lul. I was talking to a detroit fan and when i said Detroit probs gonna draft Drysdale as it would be stupid to let him slip away, he wondered who would be the bottom pairing RHD as Hronek would probs be put there and he would not like it. Thats when we came up with the idea of moving Hronek for Sergechev.

I still prefer Sergy upside over Hronek but I do love the bones of this trade

yep but the main thing is cap space for tampa and 714k for a guy who can play a 2 way game and can acheive 30 points now thats a steal for them and he could play well with Hedman. Cause lets face it Sergechev will cost 3-5mill and for tampa unless they can magically makes the 3 bad contracts disappear I cant see them keeping both him and Cirelli.

Yeah the cap space is a big thing. Hronek buys them some time. They just gotta make sure they get another piece in return

I’ve seen this proposal numerous times on this board and it isn’t a unanimous liking of trade (far from it on the Detroit side).

Seider hasn’t played in the NHL yet and Lindstrom has less than 20 games in a depth role. There is also no guarantee that Drysdale will be ready in his D+2 season. I’m also not keen on pairing a rookie with another rookie so we have DeKeyser (whom has back issues) and Nemeth as the only veteran defenseman if you trade Hronek. I’ve also mentioned numerous times that Seider has played on his offside this season and didn’t look out of place. Jamie Drysdale also played on his offside during WJC and looked great. It’s not uncommon for defenseman to play on their offside. I also mentioned (in believe in your ACGM) that Hronek only has 1 year left so what does TB do next year?

Tyler Johnson is going to be 30 this month. People act like Mantha is a grandpa and we should trade him now but T.J. is significantly older. If we acquired him anyway he’d play 2C and not 3C.

I’m assuming that’s a typo?

Sergy > hronek is what I meant.

Yes, as of right now Sergachev is a better NHL player (I’d hope considering the age/development difference) 2 seasons from now, who knows?

I’m merely pointing out that no one ever offered Seider for Sergachev. The previous few comments were Sergachev for Hronek as a base.

Hronek would be cheaper to extend than Sergy. So while they may take a slight dip in position they get a cheaper guy, shed Johnson’s cap hit, and add a pick.

Detroit also gets probably the better D on a more desirable hand. I get your argument of some guys playing on their offside, but most of the time it’s easier for guys in their own end to play their proper side

I meant Hronek I made a typo

Why do you think he’ll be cheaper? Next year he’d have 3 years of experience posting .5+ points per a game in the NHL similar to Sergachev but on a dumpster fire of a team. They are honestly pretty comparable for comps and I’m extremely interested to see what Sergachev gets. If anything whoever (Sergachev/Hronek) will probably take a discount to play in a no state income competitive market like TB not Detroit if they’re interesting in winning/cups.

I think they can sign all of their players and not really have to make as big a trade as some may think. Just do what Toronto did this past year, acquire a player that will be on LTIR for the whole year ie: Kesler (ana), Zetts(det) in exchange for one of the "bad" contracts.