Breaking Down the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Offseason To-Do List

Each player has stated that they want to stay in Tampa Bay, but realistically that’s going to be near impossible.

After three deep playoff runs, the Lightning are in the midst of an offseason they're not necessarily used to. An early exit has given them 6 additional weeks of much-needed rest.

“I wish it wasn’t a full offseason,” Steven Stamkos said. “But when you look at it, it is going to be beneficial for our group, for sure. You have some time to actually relax and get your head cleared, get your body feeling good again before you get back into that routine of the gym and on the ice. So, we have to try to find the positive out of that, and that’s probably the biggest one.”

While the players take time off, GM Julien BriseBois and crew will be busy facing another summer of salary cap shuffling, this one being the most difficult in recent years. The Lightning have a total of seven free agents, five are unrestricted. Being an UFA gives players the freedom to negotiate and sign a contract with any team without any penalties or restrictions. Each player has stated that they want to stay in Tampa Bay. Realistically that’s going to be near impossible.

Following the conclusion of the season, BriseBois made his first offseason move, signing forward Mikey Eyssimont to a two-year, $1.6 million deal. Eyssimont has proven he's a player who can forecheck and create offensive opportunities for the team. Had they not signed him, he would have been set to become an unrestricted free agent.

“I think the difference is usually we’ve been very fortunate to get all the way to the end (of the season),” BriseBois said. “So we’ve had to do a lot of our planning as we were playing in later rounds. This year, we get to take a step back and debrief, go through maybe a more formal review of where we are as an organization, what we need to do going forward. And we’re going to take the time it’s allotted to us to do that. So, it is a little bit different.”

The Lightning will have 16 players under contract next season. Mikhail Sergachev, Anthony Cirelli and Erik Cernak all have eight-year extensions that are set to kick in, locking in a very young core. Forwards Alex Killorn, Corey Perry and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare; defenseman Ian Cole; and goaltender Brian Elliott will all be unrestricted free agents starting in July.

Ross Colton and Tanner Jeannot are two restricted free agents who are in line to be paid. Being that they’re restricted, it gives the Lightning a certain level of protection. This could make things a little more complicated though. Depending on the direction BriseBois chooses to go in, paying both will leave little money left to spend on the remaining 5 UFA’s. Not everyone can stay. 

The cap is expected to go up by just $1 million to $83.5 million. They'll have tough decisions to make this summer before the cap opens back up the following year.