Navigating the salary cap is one of the most important tasks for a front office. Teams that can avoid 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 often see struggles and front office changes.
PHR is looking at every NHL team and giving a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2024-25 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of PuckPedia. We’re currently covering the Atlantic Division, next up is the Lightning.
Tampa Bay Lightning
Current Cap Hit: $86,676,870 (under the $88MM Upper Limit)
Entry-Level Contracts
F Conor Geekie (three years, $886.7K)
D Emil Lilleberg (one year, $870K)
Potential Bonuses
Geekie: $525K
Lilleberg: $80K
Total: $605K
Geekie was a key pickup in the Mikhail Sergachev trade back at the draft. He spent the first half of the season with the big club but was sent down after struggling. That makes it unlikely that he reaches his ‘A’ bonuses while at this point, a low-cost second contract seems likely unless he can establish himself as a core piece over the next two years.
Lilleberg has already signed an extension so we’ll cover that later on. For here, it’s worth noting that his bonuses are tied to games played so he’ll hit most if not all of his number.
Signed Through 2024-25, Non-Entry-Level
F Cam Atkinson ($900K, UFA)
F Michael Eyssimont ($800K, UFA)
F Luke Glendening ($800K, UFA)
F Gage Goncalves ($775K, RFA)
G Jonas Johansson ($775K, UFA)
D Nicklaus Perbix ($1.125MM, UFA)
After being bought out by Philadelphia, Atkinson was a low-cost flyer to see if he could provide Tampa Bay with some depth scoring. That hasn’t happened and at this point, it’d be surprising to see him land a guaranteed contract this summer. If so – or if he earns one off a PTO – it’s likely to be for the minimum. Glendening has been as advertised – a reliable faceoff player who can kill penalties but brings little offense to the table. There’s still a role for him beyond this year but it’s likely to be at or near the minimum of $775K once again.
Eyssimont had a breakout effort last season, notching 25 points despite playing primarily in their bottom six (often the fourth line). He hasn’t been able to produce at a similar rate this year which will hurt him a bit on the open market. Even so, as a fourth liner who can play with some jam and bring potentially a little offensive upside, he could jump closer to the $1.3MM range on his next contract. Goncalves has cleared waivers twice already but has spent more time with the Lightning than the Crunch so far. He has arbitration rights which could give the Lightning pause if they think a hearing could push him past the $1MM mark or so but he’s a candidate to take less than his qualifying offer of around $813K for a higher AHL salary or even a one-way NHL salary.
Perbix is the most notable of Tampa Bay’s pending free agents. While he has largely had a limited role this season, he had 24 points last year while logging a little over 17 minutes a night. Considering he’s still young (he’ll be 27 in June), big (6’4), and a right-shot player, his market could grow quickly from teams looking for a depth addition with a little upside, meaning that more than doubling this price could be doable.
Johansson remains a below-average NHL netminder but that’s something the Lightning knew when they signed him in 2023. The goal for them was getting someone at the minimum salary. Johansson’s staying power could give him a shot at a few more dollars but he’ll remain in the six-figure range.
Signed Through 2025-26
F Mitchell Chaffee ($800K, UFA)
D Ryan McDonagh ($6.75MM, UFA)
D J.J. Moser ($3.375MM, RFA)
D Darren Raddysh ($975K, UFA)
F Conor Sheary ($2MM, UFA)
Sheary received this deal coming off two strong years with Washington but things haven’t gone anywhere near as well with the Lightning. He scored just four goals last season and has spent most of this year in the minors, carrying a pro-rated $850K charge while down there. He’s a buyout candidate this summer although they could elect to hold onto him and take the $850K charge again next year instead of putting some money onto the 2026-27 books. Chaffee has established himself as a regular on the fourth line and is in a similar situation as Eyssimont was a year ago. Assuming that keeps up, he could push to land a $500K raise or so in 2026.
McDonagh’s contract was once deemed too expensive for Tampa Bay which resulted in them moving him to Nashville in 2022 for a very minimal return. Two years later, they gave up more value to reacquire the final two seasons of the agreement which is something you don’t see too often. But it reflects the need they had to bring in a veteran dependable defender which is what McDonagh is at this point of his career. He’s not a true top-pairing piece at this stage of his career nor is he enough of an offensive threat to provide value relative to his price tag. But if he can still hold down at least a top-four spot by the end of next season, he could still land a contract in the $4MM to $5MM range, perhaps a one-year deal which would allow for some incentives.
Moser was another piece of note in the Sergachev trade after being one of the more underrated blueliners with Arizona. The structure of the bridge deal gives him a $4.075MM qualifying offer with arbitration rights and assuming he’s still a full-timer in Tampa’s top four, he seems like a strong candidate to push past the $5MM mark on his next contract. Raddysh has become a capable producer of secondary scoring from the back end although he gives some of that back with his defensive play. Those players don’t always have the best markets year-to-year but barring a big drop in performance or playing time, he should be able to double this at a minimum in 2026.
Signed Through 2026-27
F Zemgus Girgensons ($850K, UFA)
F Nikita Kucherov ($9.5MM, UFA)
D Emil Lilleberg ($800K in 2025-26 and 2026-27, RFA)
Kucherov continues to be one of the top point-producing forwards in the NHL. He’s around $2MM below the highest-paid winger (Artemi Panarin) but that’s about to change with this upcoming UFA crop which will only widen that gap and give Tampa Bay even better value in the short term. Assuming he doesn’t slow down over the next three years, he could be someone conceivably pushing for a deal in the $14MM range himself even at 34. Girgensons saw his production drop in the last couple of years with Buffalo but it has cratered even more this year. Still, he’s a capable penalty killer and can play with some grit. That for $100K above the minimum isn’t bad value.
Lilleberg’s new deal is actually a dip in pay off his entry-level pact but gives him guaranteed money via a one-way salary no matter what. Assuming he remains a regular with the Lightning during that time, his arbitration eligibility could put him in line to double (or even triple) that price tag on his next contract.
Signed Through 2027-28 Or Longer
D Erik Cernak ($5.2MM through 2030-31)
F Anthony Cirelli ($6.25MM through 2030-31)
F Jake Guentzel ($9MM through 2030-31)
F Brandon Hagel ($6.5MM through 2031-32)
D Victor Hedman ($8MM through 2028-29)
F Nick Paul ($3.25MM through 2028-29)
F Brayden Point ($9.5MM through 2029-30)
G Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5MM through 2027-28)
It shouldn’t have come as much surprise that Point’s AAV landed exactly at what Kucherov and Vasilevskiy make as that price point was likely viewed as the internal limit in negotiations. It’s already looking like a bit of a bargain. In the first two seasons of the deal, he reached the 90-point mark in each while scoring 97 combined goals, a mark few middlemen reach as they’re more often playmakers. This season, he’s around that pace once again. We’ve already seen the market for elite centers reach the $14MM mark with Leon Draisaitl’s new contract. Granted, Point isn’t at that same level but he’s in the tier below. With the needle for top pivots moving quickly in terms of salary, having a high-end center increasingly below that number is going to look very good for the Lightning.
Guentzel was Tampa Bay’s targeted acquisition after they opted not to re-sign Steven Stamkos. This much money for a winger is on the higher side but with the rising salary cap, it’s going to look better over time, especially if he maintains his point-per-game production. So far, so good on that move. Putting Hagel with that same sentiment would be an understatement. He has emerged as a legitimate top liner and is locked up long-term at second-line money. It’s already a team-friendly pact now and is only going to look much better in a few years.
When Cirelli received his contract, they were hoping that his offensive game would eventually find another gear. The floor is high with his high-end defensive game but breaking out offensively would change the perception of the contract. He’s been doing that this season and if he can maintain that, a strong two-way center at this price point will work out quite well. Seven years for Paul raised some eyebrows but they believed that his offensive improvement was sustainable. That bet has been a good one so far and now the Lightning have a middle-six winger signed long-term at a team-friendly price.
Hedman has been one of the elite blueliners across the league for many years now. Even at 34, he’s not really showing signs of slowing down and with salaries going up in recent years, his AAV doesn’t land in the top 20 among NHL defensemen. For someone viewed as a top-10 defender league-wide at a minimum, this is another team-friendly pact. Even if Hedman slows down by the end of this deal and isn’t quite as impactful, they’ve had plenty of surplus value from him already to offset that. The same can’t be said for Cernak. He hasn’t been able to become the high-end shutdown defender the Lightning were hoping for, resulting in him being deployed in more of a fourth or fifth role on the depth chart. That’s a premium price for someone in that slot.
Vasilevskiy is one of the highest-paid goalies in the NHL and for good reason as he has been one of the league’s best for a long time now. After a rougher showing last season, he has rebounded quite nicely and should be up there in Vezina Trophy voting once again. It’s a high price tag but he has been worth it thus far.
Buyouts
None
Retained Salary Transactions
None
Best Value: (non-entry-level) Hagel
Worst Value: Cernak
Looking Ahead
Tampa Bay has had a pretty healthy season overall which has allowed them to bank a reasonable amount of cap room. As a result, they enter the trade deadline with the ability to take on at least $5MM in full-season salary which is enough to add a player without necessarily needing the trading team to retain money. That could give them a leg up over cap-strapped squads. That said, it seems unlikely that GM Julien BriseBois will make a big splash.
That same thought extends to the offseason as well. The Lightning will have around $14MM in cap flexibility for next summer with around seven players to sign with those funds. While in theory, they could try to make a big addition and round out the roster with several low-cost veterans as they’ve done recently, it also could be a chance for them to add better quality depth, deepening their roster for a full season over trying to add those types at the trade deadline. But in the 2027 offseason when the cap jumps again and McDonagh’s contract ends, they should be in a spot to try to make more of a splash at that time.
Photos courtesy of Imagn Images.
Pretty solid assessment of Tampa’s dealings. It really shows that Tampa has gotten some really good team friendly deals with particularly their top & middle-six players. Tampa is in good shape overall moving forward particularly with the cap growth in the next couple of seasons & should remain a potential Cup contender for the remainder of this decade’s lasting years.
One thing to note, Ryan McDonagh made it clear when he returned to Tampa that he would only play for Tampa moving forward or retire if Tampa doesn’t extend which I think they will extend him if he continues playing with his dominant defensive play moving forward as his hockey play is aging like fine wine.