Navigating the Salary Cap is probably one of the more important tasks for any general manager to have. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.
PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation heading into the 2017-18 season. This will focus more on those players who are integral parts of the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Current Cap Hit: $71,149,167 (under the $75MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Brayden Point (Two years remaining, $687K)
D Mikhail Sergachev (Three years remaining, $894K)
If there was any upside to the injury woes that the Lightning suffered last season, it was the opportunity provided to Point to show that he can be a productive NHL player already. He wound up producing like a second line forward in his rookie campaign but may be a bit lower on the depth chart when everyone’s healthy. If he can come close to duplicating his 40 points in 2017-18, it wouldn’t be surprising to see contract extension talks open up next summer.
Sergachev was picked up in the Jonathan Drouin trade just prior to expansion and should be given a long look in training camp. However, Tampa has seven other defenders on the roster and Sergachev has another year of junior eligibility remaining so it’s not a guarantee he makes the team. If he does, he’ll likely start in a third pairing role with the potential to move up later on.
One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level
F J.T. Brown ($1.25MM, UFA)
F Erik Condra ($1.25MM, UFA)
D Slater Koekkoek ($800K, RFA)
F Chris Kunitz ($2MM, UFA)
F Vladislav Namestnikov ($1.938MM, RFA)
F Cedric Paquette ($813K, RFA)
D Andrej Sustr ($1.95MM, UFA)
Potential Bonuses
Kunitz: $1MM
Point: $258K
Sergachev: $850K
Total: $2.108MM
Up front, Kunitz was brought in to try to help replace some of Drouin’s offense while giving them another veteran voice as well. It will be interesting to see how he performs away from the Penguins; if he shows he can do so, he should be able to land a similar deal next summer. Namestnikov is coming off of a bit of a down year but before that was showing signs of being a top-six forward. If he can rebound, he’ll be in line for a nice raise but if not, he could become available in a trade with Tampa having several quality prospects in the system. Paquette’s production has stagnated in the teens so while he’s a decent checker, he shouldn’t command a big raise next summer. Brown is coming off a dreadful season and could see his roster spot usurped by a prospect before too long while Condra cleared waivers last year and could do so once again come October.
Defensively, Sustr has somewhat quietly carved out a regular role for himself on the third pairing. However, he may price himself out of a spot next summer as GM Steve Yzerman could look for a cheaper replacement to save some money as his cap hit is starting to get high for someone who’s primarily a depth option. Koekkoek has yet to lock down a full-time roster spot but as he’s now waiver eligible, he’ll likely get a longer look this time. He’s on a one-year ‘show me’ contract and if he can land a regular role, he’ll set himself up for a pay bump next summer.
Two Years Remaining
G Peter Budaj ($1.025MM, UFA)
D Braydon Coburn ($3.7MM, UFA)
D Jake Dotchin ($813K, RFA)
D Dan Girardi ($3MM, UFA)
F Yanni Gourde ($1MM, UFA)
F Nikita Kucherov ($4.77MM, RFA)
D Anton Stralman ($4.5MM, UFA)
The Lightning’s cap situation basically pushed them in the direction of giving Kucherov a shorter-term deal and while they’ll enjoy the benefits of that for a couple more years, they’ll be paying for afterwards. Kucherov finished fifth in NHL scoring last season and he has established himself as a top flight talent. Yzerman is likely hoping he can get Kucherov to leave a bit of money on the table as his other top stars did but even if that happens, it’s still going to be a significant jump. Gourde finished last season on a strong note and turned that into a multi-year deal despite only having two games of NHL experience coming into 2016-17.
Although his production took a dip last year, Stralman has still been a key cog on Tampa’s back end. His playing style fits in well with a shift towards a more mobile blueline which should make him highly coveted if he makes it back to the open market. Coburn’s contract raised many eyebrows when it was signed and it’s one they’d undoubtedly like to move now. Even though there are two years left, it’s pretty safe to guess the team will be looking elsewhere when it’s done (while earmarking a big chunk of that for Kucherov’s raise). The Lightning moved quickly to sign Girardi which also caught some off guard but they envision him as a reliable stay-at-home player. If he plays like he did with the Rangers last year though, that contract won’t be that easy to move. Dotchin was a regular in the second half of the season after being brought up from the minors which earned him a one-way contract. If he stays as a regular in 2017-18, his deal should be a bit of a bargain.
Last season was quite a turnaround for Budaj. He was expected to be the third stringer for the Kings but the Jonathan Quick injury gave him an NHL spot and he made the most of it, earning a two-year extension in June after joining Tampa in the Ben Bishop trade. It’s not often that a veteran goalie goes from being an expected minor league call-up to having a multi-year deal with guaranteed NHL money.
Three Years Remaining
F Ryan Callahan ($5.8MM, UFA)
G Andrei Vasilevskiy ($3.5MM, RFA)
Hip problems sidelined Callahan for the majority of last season and made his contract that much worse. He’s only two years removed from a 54 point season and if he could even come close to that production, they’d be happy. If not, Callahan’s contract will continue to be one of the more challenging contracts to try to trade.
Vasilevskiy is now the undisputed starter with Bishop gone. If he can play as a legitimate number one netminder, this contract has the potential to be a bargain for them. He was up-and-down last season when put in that situation so it will be worth watching to see if he’s more consistent this year.
Four Or More Years Remaining
D Victor Hedman ($7.875MM through 2024-25)
F Tyler Johnson ($5MM through 2023-24)
F Alex Killorn ($4.45MM through 2022-23)
F Ondrej Palat ($5.3MM through 2021-22)
F Steven Stamkos ($8.5MM through 2023-24)
Stamkos took his negotiations right to the onset of free agency before taking what some would suggest was a bit under market value to stay with the Lightning. He’s now fully recovered from his meniscus tear from last season which should make a huge difference for them. Johnson and Palat both signed their deals last month and lock in a big chunk of their secondary scoring for the long term. Killorn has been fairly consistent (he has had between 36-41 points in each of his four full NHL seasons) but with the rest of the firepower they have, his contract stands out as one that they may want to move out to free up some cap room. However, with six years left on it, there probably won’t be a significant market for Killorn.
Hedman wasted little time signing an extension last summer that starts in 2017-18. The contract locks up one of the premier blueliners in the NHL and looks even better following a 72 point season. He’ll be the cornerstone of their back end for a long time to come.
Buyouts
D Matt Carle ($1.833MM through 2019-20)
F Vincent Lecavalier (Compliance buyout so no cap hit, payments to be made through 2026-27)
Still To Sign
None
Best Value: Kucherov
Worst Value: Callahan
Looking Ahead
The last few summers, the talk has been about the cap trouble that the Lightning have been in. Yzerman has been able to navigate it so far but he’s not entirely out of the woods yet. Tampa Bay has over $42MM committed for 2019-20 to a total of seven players and Kucherov, their top scorer last year, isn’t one of them so there is a lot of work to do for when that deal expires.
Shorter-term, they have room now and they’re not in bad shape for next summer either. They have nearly $62MM on the books to 15 players but there aren’t many key players in need of new deals either so for the time being, there won’t be a looming cap crunch.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Some of the contracts Yzerman has handed out are just baffling. Killorn, Johnson, and Coburn for starters are just terrible.
Yzerman is not the genius he’s made out to be.