The Tampa Bay Lightning have a slate of notable pending free agents, including veterans Ryan McDonagh and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Today, Lightning general manager Julien Brisebois told the media, including team reporter Benjamin Pierce, that contract negotiations with the representatives of its pending free agents will be tabled until after the season. Brisebois also added that despite doing so, the club still plans on retaining McDonagh beyond this season.
Lightning Rumors
Lightning’s Nick Paul Undergoes Upper-Body Surgery
Lightning forward Nick Paul had an upper-body procedure performed last Friday, general manager Julien BriseBois said today (via the team’s Benjamin Pierce). He’ll miss around six weeks and is targeting an early November return.
Paul played through a left wrist tear in last season’s playoffs, BriseBois said at the time. It’s unclear if last week’s surgery was a delayed response to that injury or if it addressed a new issue. BriseBois did say that Paul was expected to be ready for training camp, so there’s a strong case for it being the latter.
There will be a significant hole to fill in Tampa’s middle six for the first month of the season. The versatile checker is coming off back-to-back 20-goal seasons and finished seventh on the team with 41 points last year, averaging north of 16 minutes per game and flexing between second-line wing and third-line center duties.
Paul starting the year on injured reserve will yield increased opportunities for the Bolts’ depth free agent signings, namely Pontus Holmberg and Jakob Pelletier. The latter is an especially intriguing candidate to slot into top-nine minutes. The Calgary 2019 first-rounder snuck through waivers at the beginning of last year but looked like he could handle at least third-line minutes after being recalled in December, scoring 11 points in 24 games for the Flames before he was traded to the Flyers in the Joel Farabee/Morgan Frost deal. He didn’t get much of a run in Philly, though, and he was an unrestricted free agent after being non-tendered.
He then signed a three-year deal with Tampa. This year carries a two-way structure, leading most to believe he was a candidate to end up on waivers again, but Paul’s vacant roster spot may give him an in. As for filling out their center depth, Yanni Gourde is beginning the first full season of his second stint with the Bolts, who acquired him and Oliver Bjorkstrand from the Kraken at last year’s trade deadline. He should be a relative lock to return to the role he found immense success in for Tampa during his first go-around with the club from 2015-21. He looked quite comfortable there down the stretch last year with 13 assists and 14 points in 21 games.
Summer Synopsis: Tampa Bay Lightning
With training camps now less than a month away, the bulk of the heavy lifting has been done from a roster perspective. Most unrestricted free agents have found new homes, the arbitration period has come and gone, and the trade market has cooled. Accordingly, it’s a good time to take a look at what each team has accomplished this offseason. Next up is a look at Tampa Bay.
Last summer, the Lightning made a big splash, adding Jake Guentzel while parting ways with longtime franchise icon Steven Stamkos among their series of moves. This time around, GM Julien BriseBois has been much more tempered with his roster movement, opting to work on the fringes while keeping a key trade deadline acquisition in the fold.
Draft
2-56 – F Ethan Czata, Niagara (OHL)
4-108 – F Benjamin Rautiainen, Tappara (Liiga)
4-127 – F Aiden Foster, Prince George (WHL)
5-151 – D Everett Baldwin, St. George’s (USHS-RI)
7-193 – G Caleb Heil, Madison (USHL)
7-206 – F Roman Luttsev, Yaroslavl (MHL)
7-212 – D Grant Spada, Guelph (OHL)
7-215 – F Marco Mignosa, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)
The Lightning managed a surprisingly stout draft class despite little in the way of pick value. Their class is full of interesting skill and projectable upside, housed within a shell of unrefined skills and clear areas for growth. Czata stands as the true playmaker of the bunch and earns the highest pick as a result. He’s a heads-up center who plays the low-zone well on both ends of the ice. He already has the frame and muscle to work his way to a pro build, but will need to compliment it with improved skating before he can boom at the pro level.
The Lightning reeled in a line of upside picks behind the projectable Czata. Rautiainen was in his final year of draft eligibility, but earned a selection after netting an impressive 37 points in 58 Liiga games last season. He’s an upside bet who could translate to North America soon. Foster is the bruiser of the bunch, having already racked up 260 penalty minutes in just two WHL seasons. Baldwin was seen as a true draft gem in NHL circles, with some New England scouts praising him as a second-round talent at his peak. He’s a nifty, fast-moving defender with the ability to drive play and throw big hits – though he hasn’t yet had a chance at the top level. He’ll get his first in a move to the QMJHL’s Saint John Sea Dogs this season.
The Bolts had to save their energy for a busy seventh-round. They landed a very well-rounded bunch for their effort. It features the flashy athleticism of goaltender Heil, downhill offense of center Luttsev, heavy hitting of defender Spada, incremental, all-around improvement of Mignosa. All four players show flashes of upside as true NHL hopefuls, even despite having to wait until the final picks to hear their name called.
Trade Acquisitions
F Sam O’Reilly (trade with Edmonton)
After Isaac Howard decided that he didn’t want to sign with the Lightning, he immediately because their top trade chip. They elected not to move him at the deadline but found a viable one-for-one prospect swap that saw him flipped for another late first-round selection. O’Reilly isn’t NHL-ready like Howard is but he plays the more premium position as a natural center and produced over a point-per-game in both the regular season and playoffs with OHL London. Already signed to his entry-level deal, he could be in the mix for NHL ice time as soon as 2026-27.
UFA Signings
F Nicholas Abruzzese (one year, $775K)*
F Tristan Allard (two years, $1.745MM)*
G Ryan Fanti (one year, $775K)*
F Gage Goncalves (two years, $2.4MM)^
F Yanni Gourde (six years, $14MM)^
F Pontus Holmberg (two years, $3.1MM)
F Boris Katchouk (one year, $775K)*
D Simon Lundmark (two years, $1.55MM)*
F Jakob Pelletier (three years, $2.325MM)
F Scott Sabourin (one year, $775K)*
D Steven Santini (two years, $1.55MM)*^
*-denotes two-way contract
^-denotes re-signing
BriseBois paid a high price to acquire Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand at the trade deadline so it made sense that he’d try to keep Gourde in the fold. Few expected him to sign a six-year deal at the age of 33, however. That’s a long contract for someone that age but the trade-off is a cap charge that is well below what he likely would have received in free agency in a market that had few centers of significance. Gourde is coming off a pretty quiet season by his standards but he was impactful after the trade, notching 14 points in 21 games. If he comes anywhere close to this, he’s going to be a nice bargain in the early going of this deal and really help bolster their bottom six, an area of need for a while now.
Speaking of bottom-six pickups, both Holmberg and Pelletier qualify. Holmberg had his first full NHL season last year with Toronto, playing somewhat regularly on their fourth line during the regular season and in the playoffs. He doesn’t bring a lot of offensive upside to the table but it’s still an improvement on what Tampa Bay’s fourth line provided last season while he could help a bit on the penalty kill as well. Pelletier cleared waivers to start last season but wound up getting into 49 NHL games between Calgary and Philadelphia. A 2019 first-round pick, it doesn’t appear as if he’ll be able to live up to his draft billing but he should have a chance to secure a regular spot on that fourth line and, like Holmberg, give it perhaps a bit more offensive upside as well.
Goncalves was able to establish himself as a regular for the most part with the Lightning last season but Tampa Bay wanted nothing to do with arbitration, opting to non-tender him before re-signing him in early July at a price tag higher than what his qualifying offer was. Last season, he cleared waivers twice. That’s probably not going to be an option this time around. Abruzzeze has had some good offensive success in the minors with Toronto but hasn’t had much of an NHL opportunity, allowing him to reach Group Six free agency. He’ll be in tough to lock down a full-time spot with the Lightning but he could be a good candidate for a midseason recall.
RFA Re-Signings
D Maxwell Crozier (three years, $2.325MM)*
F Jack Finley (three years, $2.325MM)*
*-denotes two-way contract
Most of Tampa Bay’s contract work was done before the summer came along so there wasn’t much to do here. Crozier and Finley signed identical contracts, deals that will carry a two-way salary this season before converting to one-way pacts for the other two (at rates that will be increased due to the changes to the minimum salary in the CBA). Crozier could have a shot at earning a seventh defenseman role with the Lightning this season while Finley – who made his NHL debut last season – is ticketed for regular minutes with AHL Syracuse once again.
Departures
D Anthony Angello (unsigned)
F Cam Atkinson (unsigned)
D Derrick Pouliot (signed with Rangers, one year, $775K)*
F Gabriel Fortier (signed with Leksand, SHL)
F Logan Brown (signed with Los Angeles, one year, $775K)*
F Luke Glendening (unsigned)
F Isaac Howard (trade with Edmonton)
D Tobie Paquette-Bisson (signed with Laval, AHL)
D Nicklaus Perbix (signed with Nashville, two years, $5.5MM)
F Conor Sheary (contract termination, signed a PTO with Rangers)
F Simon Ryfors (RFA rights lost, signed with Davos, NL)
G Matt Tomkins (signed with Edmonton, two years, $1.55MM)*
*-denotes two-way contract
Despite a large list of names to leave the organization, the Lightning and GM Julien BriseBois did a good job of not losing anyone of significance. Perbix, 27, is coming off of a nice season to earn a solid two-year deal with the Predators. In 74 games, Perbix put up 19 points while averaging 14:41 of ice time per night. Perhap the biggest departure came in the form of Howard, who never actually suited up in Tampa Bay. Following the trade, the Oilers announced Howard has signed a three-year, entry-level contract beginning in 2025-26.
Salary Cap Outlook
The Lightning are projected to have a little under $1.2MM in cap space for next season, per PuckPedia, and that’s with a 23-player roster. That’s a luxury they haven’t been able to afford too often in recent years and if they elect not to operate with that to start the season, they could wind up opening up nearly $2MM below the cap ceiling. That’s a much cleaner spot to be in compared to where they’ve been at times over the last few seasons.
Key Questions
Can Geekie Lock Down A Key Role? One of the wild cards for Tampa Bay this season is forward Conor Geekie. A key piece of the return in the trade that saw defenseman Mikhail Sergachev go to Utah at the draft last year, the 2022 11th overall pick broke camp with the Lightning last year but played a relatively minor role overall, only playing more than 15 minutes in four of his 52 games while only collecting 14 points. In February, the decision was made to let him go to Syracuse and he was much more successful with the Crunch, notching 11 goals and 20 points in 24 games, earning a late-season recall and some playoff time. If Geekie can truly lock down a full-time spot on the third line, a step forward from him coupled with their bottom-six additions could really help shore up what was one of their biggest weaknesses last season.
Will The Lightning Do Any Early Extensions? Over the years, BriseBois has often elected to sign his pending free agents a year early and avoid any potential distractions of having a player in his walk year. (Stamkos, their former captain, was a rare notable exception.) There is a trio of veterans who could be candidates to sign new deals. Bjorkstrand has reached at least 20 goals in six of the last seven seasons, making him a reliably consistent secondary scoring option that should land more than his current $5.4MM price tag on the open market so working to sign him now makes some sense. Meanwhile, on the back end, veteran Ryan McDonagh and J.J. Moser are both extension-eligible as well. McDonagh is unlikely to command the $6.75MM cap cost that he currently has but there is likely mutual interest in seeing him stick around in a mentoring capacity for another year or two. As for Moser, his first season with the Lightning after coming over in the Sergachev trade was a little quieter than expected but he’s still expected to be a top-four piece for them for the foreseeable future. If they’re confident he can rebound, looking to sign him now when his value might be a little lower would be a wise move.
Can They Match Last Season’s Offensive Production? The Lightning led the NHL in regular season goals last season (292), good for a 3.56 goals per game. The team is returning its core offensive threats, so can it make another push toward the top of the offensive rankings? The answer likely hinges on whether it can replicate last season’s power play success, when it ranked fifth in the league with a 25.9 percent conversion rate. That efficiency was complemented by impressive even-strength production, as the team finished third in the league in even-strength goals, trailing only the Washington Capitals and, perhaps surprisingly, the Columbus Blue Jackets. If Nikita Kucherov can produce something close to last season’s 121 points, and players like Guentzel, Brandon Hagel, and Brayden Point continue to produce at a point-per-game rate, the Lightning should once again find themselves near the top of the league in goals per game and in a strong position to contend heading into the playoffs.
Photos courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
PHR’s Gabriel Foley and Paul Griser also contributed to this post.
ECHL's Solar Bears Re-Sign Jon Gillies
A former third-string option at the NHL level enjoyed his time in the ECHL so much last season that he wants another go at it. According to a team announcement, the ECHL’s Orlando Solar Bears have signed netminder Jon Gillies for the 2025-26 campaign.
Despite being in the professional ranks for the last decade, Gillies is best known for his work at the collegiate level. Putting together an impressive season with the NCAA’s Providence College, Gillies managed a 24-13-2 record in 39 games with a .930 SV%, 2.01 GAA, and four shutouts during the 2014-15 season. Gillies played so well behind the Friars that they were able to win the first National Championship in program history.
He put together a few good years with the AHL’s Stockton Heat, but couldn’t replicate the success he had in college. From 2015 to 2023, Gillies managed a 78-71-32 record in 184 appearances with a .904 SV% and 2.94 GAA with the Calgary Flames, New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, Arizona Coyotes, and Columbus Blue Jackets organizations. He played in seven games for the Solar Bears last season.
Other notes from this evening:
- The Colorado Avalanche are getting some good news from one of their better bottom-six players. According to AJ Haefele of the DNVR Avalanche podcast, Logan O’Connor’s recovery from surgery is going ahead of schedule. He posits that O’Connor should only miss between 10 and 16 games, which would forecast his return to early November, nearly a month earlier than expected.
- The AHL’s Manitoba Moose are adding some veteran experience to their coaching staff for the upcoming season. Earlier today, the team announced that they’ve hired Bob Nardella as an assistant coach for the 2025-26 AHL season. Nardella has spent more than a decade with the AHL’s Chicago Wolves, moving from the team’s skills coach to the assistant coach before serving as the head coach last year.
Snapshots: Belleville, Lightning, Tullio, AHL
In the wake of groundbreaking news regarding a new NHL arena, the Ottawa Senators have also announced a three-year extension of the Belleville Senators’ lease agreement with Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre. The deal additionally includes the option to extend for an additional five years, effectively gluing the AHL Senators to Belleville until between 2030 and 2035.
Ottawa will make a confident move to keep their AHL club just a few hours away. This news comes despite the fact that Belleville has ranked in the bottom-three of AHL attendance in each of the last two seasons, with an average of 2,823 fans each game per HockeyDB. Belleville did come closer to 3,000 fans per game this season, and will look to cross that mark with a new commitment to the city.
Their one-ice performances have fluctuated in their eight years of existence. The Baby Sens have made the postseason only twice, though they did finish first and third in their division in 2020 and 2021, when the postseason was either cancelled early or outright. The club has shown glimmers of hope, and should only improve as Ottawa continues to stack their depth chart.
Other quick notes from across the NHL:
- In more arena news, the Tampa Bay Lightning have announced a new name for their home base shares Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times. The arena formerly known as AMALIE Arena will now be named Benchmark International Arena, after naming rights were sold to the Tampa-based acquisitions firm. Details of the sale were not revealed, other than that it will run for multiple years and include $3MM in nonprofit contributions to the arena. Amalie Motor Oil Company, who held the naming rights since 2014, will continue to serve as a corporate partner of the Lightning.
- Right winger Tyler Tullio will continue his journey across the AHL. He has signed a contract with the Tuscon Roadrunners for next season, per Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey. Tullio was traded to the Buffalo Sabres in 2024, as part of the deal that swapped top prospect Matthew Savoie for pro center Ryan McLeod. He spent 30 games with the Rochester Americans, before being loaned to the Calgary Wranglers for the rest of the season. He totaled 15 points in 43 games this season, just narrowly below the scoring pace he managed when he scored 21 points in 54 games in 2023-24, or 26 points in 63 games in 2022-23, with the Bakersfield Condors. Tullio was a fifth-round selection in the 2020 NHL Draft and should provide a nice boost of speed to Tuscon’s lineup.
- The AHL has named Stephen Thomson as their new Vice President of Hockey Operations, per NHL.com’s Mark Divver. Divver adds that Thomson will be responsible for overseeing on-ice operations, including management of officials and disciplinary processes. Thomson has been with the AHL’s league office since 2022. He will replace Hayley Moore, who left for a role with popular agency Quartexx Management. The AHL also announced that Jeff Jordan has been hired as the Director of Hockey Operations and Central Registry after spending the last five years with the Springfield Thunderbirds. The league has also promoted Michael Demarin to Senior Manager of Hockey Administration and Governance; and Shannon Chiras to Manager of Hockey Operations.
Baldwin Signs With QMJHL Saint John
- Lightning prospect Everett Baldwin will have a new team next season as QMJHL Saint John announced that they’ve signed the blueliner. The defenseman was a fifth-round pick last month out of St. George’s School while also briefly seeing action in the USHL. Baldwin made a college commitment to play at his hometown Providence College back in 2023 but it remains to be seen if his QMJHL commitment will push that back or if he’ll be a one-and-done player at the major junior level.
Lightning Sign Ethan Czata To Entry-Level Deal
The Lightning have signed forward Ethan Czata to a three-year, entry-level contract, the team said in a press release Wednesday. He was a second-round pick, their earliest selection in this year’s draft.
Czata’s deal carries a cap hit of $932K and an average annual value of $975K, according to PuckPedia. The contract, which is slide-eligible twice, has the following breakdown:
Year 1: $775K NHL salary, $97.5K signing bonus, $102.5K games played bonus, $85K minors salary
Year 2: $850K NHL/$97.5K SB/$27.5K GP/$85K AHL
Year 3: $877.5K NHL/$97.5K SB/$0 GP/$85K AHL
Selected No. 56 overall, a pick Tampa acquired from the Kings for winger Tanner Jeannot, Czata has spent the last two seasons with the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs. The physical center made 68 appearances last season, ranking fourth on the team with 21 goals and 55 points.
Czata has been a key force in helping the IceDogs, who have been among the OHL’s most hapless clubs in recent years due to ownership instability, return to relevance with their first playoff appearance since the pandemic. He also earned a spot on Canada’s roster at the 2025 U-18 World Juniors, posting a goal and four assists in seven games en route to a gold medal.
The 18-year-old was a virtual second-round lock based on consensus rankings. He’s expected to return to Niagara after attending training camp with the Lightning, triggering an entry-level slide, but a breakout post-draft season could put him in the conversation for a roster spot in 2026-27.
If he’s loaned to the OHL as expected this season, Czata won’t count against the Bolts’ 50-contract limit. That’s crucial as they’re already at 47 deals signed, according to PuckPedia.
Lightning Sign Scott Sabourin
The Lightning have added some grit up front for their system as the team announced that they’ve signed winger Scott Sabourin to a one-year, two-way contract. Financial terms were not disclosed but PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that it’s worth $775K in the NHL, $250K in the minors, and has a guaranteed payout of $350K.
The 32-year-old has seen NHL action in five of the last six seasons but it has been minimal, to say the least. Sabourin played in just one game last season with the Sharks, an outing in late January. Over his career, he has made 47 appearances at the top level, picking up two goals and six assists along with 103 hits and 58 penalty minutes.
Sabourin has been much more of a factor in the minors, however. Last season, he notched 10 goals and 15 assists plus 111 penalty minutes in 68 games with San Jose’s AHL affiliate, the Barracuda. That extended his streak of consecutive seasons with double-digit goals and at least 100 penalty minutes to three. Overall, he has 88 goals, 93 assists, and 1,223 penalty minutes in 532 AHL contests over parts of 12 seasons.
Originally signed as an undrafted free agent back in 2013, Sabourin has now signed eight NHL contracts across six different organizations. He’s likely to begin next season with AHL Syracuse while being a recall option if Tampa Bay decides that they want some extra physicality in the lineup for certain matchups.
Riley Nash Announces Retirement
Longtime depth center Riley Nash has retired from the NHL, he told Tyler Lowey of Castanet Kamloops.
Nash, 36, was an unrestricted free agent after spending 2024-25 under contract with the Rangers. He didn’t play at all last season while rehabbing what he told Lowey were a “variety of knee injuries” he sustained during the previous year while on assignment to AHL Hartford, spending his final professional season on the non-roster list.
“With three wonderful young kids and the way my body has behaved over the past few years, it was time to take a step back as an older guy and let others chase their dream the same way I did,” he told Lowey. “I consider myself very fortunate to have played in front of my kids over the last few years. They helped me regain the passion and love for the sport I had as a kid. Now was the right time to step away.”
The 6’2″, 187-lb pivot was the No. 21 overall selection in the 2007 draft by the Oilers, although he elected not to sign with one of the two clubs from his native Alberta. After winning an ECAC championship with Cornell in his junior campaign in 2009-10, he saw his signing rights flipped to the Hurricanes for a second-round pick.
Nash signed with Carolina a few weeks later. While he ended up having a true journeyman’s career, he did have some stability early on in the Hurricanes organization. He spent six seasons there, seeing NHL ice in the latter five, recording 31 goals, 50 assists, and 81 points in 242 games before reaching free agency in 2016.
Nash went on to see NHL ice for the Bruins, Blue Jackets, Maple Leafs, Jets, Lightning, Coyotes, and Rangers. He spent nearly a decade as a full-time AHL piece, going from 2013-14 to 2020-21 without seeing a minor-league assignment, frequently anchoring third and fourth lines. His best season came on a high-powered Bruins squad in 2017-18, setting career-highs across the board with 15 goals, 26 assists, 41 points, and a +16 rating while averaging 15:25 per game.
He spent the last few seasons of his career as a complementary AHL piece, serving as an alternate captain for the Charlotte Checkers in 2022-23 before spending his final healthy campaign with the Rangers’ affiliate in Hartford in 2023-24.
Nash concludes his pro career with 628 NHL appearances, scoring 63 goals, 113 assists and 176 points with a -11 rating in 13:09 of ice time per contest. He also scored 193 points in 312 AHL games in parts of seven seasons.
All of us at PHR wish Nash the best in retirement.
Lightning Acquire Sam O’Reilly From Oilers For Isaac Howard
In a late-night deal, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Edmonton Oilers are swapping recent first-round picks, as forward Sam O’Reilly is heading to the Lightning in exchange for forward Isaac Howard. Both teams have announced the deal. The Oilers also announced Howard has signed a three-year, entry-level contract beginning in 2025-26.
O’Reilly was selected 32nd overall by the Oilers in the 2024 NHL Draft and posted 28 goals, 71 points, and a plus-56 rating in 62 games for the OHL’s London Knights this past season. He added 22 points in 17 playoff games. In 135 career regular-season games with London, O’Reilly, 19, has scored 127 points to go along with 74 penalty minutes. A two-time OHL champion, the 6’1″, 190 center has added 34 playoff points through 33 games. More than just an offensive threat, O’Reilly has the potential, size, and physicality to also be a shutdown center.
Howard, selected 31st overall in the 2023 draft, spent the last two seasons at Michigan State University after transferring from the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Howard, a 5’11”, 190-pound left wing, took his game to the next level during the 2024-25 season, posting 26 goals and 52 points in 37 games. On a team that featured eight other players either drafted or signed by NHL clubs, he led the Spartans in scoring by 21 points and went on to win the Hobey Baker Award. In two seasons with Michigan State, Howard has produced 88 points and a plus-22 rating.
While O’Reilly may have the higher ceiling as a two-way player, Howard, 21, is closer to being NHL-ready. When Howard does make the jump to professional hockey, his sharp shooting ability and quick skating could make him an immediate fit in the Oilers’ already dangerous top six. Insider Frank Seravalli notes that the Oilers plan to have Howard in their opening night lineup this October.