- The Lightning announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Darren Raddysh from AHL Syracuse. The 27-year-old played for Tampa Bay in Thursday’s loss to Pittsburgh but has spent most of the year with the Crunch, picking up 50 points in 50 games to put him second among all AHL rearguards in scoring.
Lightning Rumors
Trade Deadline Roundup: Eastern Conference
While trade deadline day was largely a dud in itself, that was because so many moves were made in the days leading up to March 3rd. With that in mind, here is a recap of the trades made in the Eastern Conference in the ten days leading up to deadline day to show who all moved where in what was a busy trade period overall. Players and picks that were acquired and then flipped are only noted for their final destination.
Boston Bruins
Acquired: F Shane Bowers, F Tyler Bertuzzi, F Garnet Hathaway, D Dmitry Orlov, F Andrei Svetlakov
Traded: G Keith Kinkaid, F Craig Smith, 2023 first-round pick, 2023 fifth-round pick, 2024 first-round pick, 2024 third-round pick, 2025 second-round pick, 2025 fourth-round pick
Buffalo Sabres
Acquired: F Jordan Greenway, D Riley Stillman, D Austin Strand, 2023 third-round pick (LA), 2025 seventh-round pick (NSH)
Traded: F Rasmus Asplund, F Josh Bloom, F Anders Bjork, G Erik Portillo, D Chase Priskie, 2023 second-round pick (VGK), 2024 fifth-round pick
Carolina Hurricanes
Acquired: D Shayne Gostisbehere, F Jesse Puljujarvi
Traded: F Patrik Puistola, 2026 third-round pick
Columbus Blue Jackets
Acquired: G Jon Gillies, G Michael Hutchinson, 2023 first-round pick (LA), 2023 fifth-round pick (BOS), 2024 third-round pick (LA), 2025 seventh-round pick (VGK)
Traded: D Vladislav Gavrikov, G Joonas Korpisalo, F Gustav Nyquist, Jakub Voracek, 2023 sixth-round pick
Detroit Red Wings
Acquired: F Dylan McLaughlin, 2023 first-round pick (NYI), 2023 second-round pick (VAN), 2023 fourth-round pick (MIN), 2024 first-round pick (BOS), 2025 fourth-round pick (BOS), 2025 seventh-round pick (STL)
Traded: F Tyler Bertuzzi, D Filip Hronek, F Oskar Sundqvist, F Jakub Vrana
Florida Panthers
No trades made
Montreal Canadiens
Acquired: D Frederic Allard, F Denis Gurianov, D Tony Sund, 2024 fifth-round pick (SJ)
Traded: F Evgenii Dadonov, D Arvid Henrikson, F Nate Schnarr
New Jersey Devils
Acquired: G Zacharie Emond, F Timur Ibragimov, F Curtis Lazar, F Timo Meier, D Santeri Hatakka, 2024 fifth-round pick (COL)
Traded: F Andreas Johnsson, D Shakir Mukhamadullin, D Nikita Okhotyuk, F Fabian Zetterlund, 2023 first-round pick, 2024 second-round pick, 2024 fourth-round pick, 2024 seventh-round pick
New York Islanders
Acquired: F Pierre Engvall
Traded: 2024 third-round pick
New York Rangers
Acquired: F Anton Blidh, D Wyatt Kalynuk, F Patrick Kane, F William Lockwood, D Cooper Zech, 2026 seventh-round pick (VAN)
Traded: F Vitali Kravtsov, F Austin Rueschhoff, F Gustav Rydahl, D Andy Welinski, 2023 second-round pick, 2025 third-round pick, 2025 fourth-round pick
Ottawa Senators
Acquired: F Patrick Brown, D Jakob Chychrun
Traded: D Nikita Zaitsev, 2023 first-round pick, 2023 second-round pick, 2023 sixth-round pick, 2024 second-round pick, 2026 second-round pick, 2026 fourth-round pick
Philadelphia Flyers
Acquired: F Brendan Lemieux, 2023 sixth-round pick (OTT), 2024 fourth-round pick (LA)
Traded: F Patrick Brown, F Zack MacEwen, F Isaac Ratcliffe
Pittsburgh Penguins
Acquired: F Nick Bonino, F Peter DiLiberatore, F Mikael Granlund, D Dmitry Kulikov, 2024 third-round pick (VGK)
Traded: F Teddy Blueger, F Brock McGinn, 2023 second-round pick, 2023 seventh-round pick, 2024 third-round pick, 2024 fifth-round pick
Tampa Bay Lightning
Acquired: F Michael Eyssimont, F Tanner Jeannot
Traded: D Cal Foote, F Vladislav Namestnikov, 2023 third-round pick, 2023 fourth-round pick, 2023 fifth-round pick, 2024 second-round pick, 2025 first-round pick
Toronto Maple Leafs
Acquired: D Erik Gustafsson, F Sam Lafferty, D Jake McCabe, D Luke Schenn, F Radim Zohorna, 2023 first-round pick (BOS), 2024 third-round pick (NYI), 2024 fifth-round pick (CHI), 2025 fifth-round pick (CHI)
Traded: F Joey Anderson, F Pierre Engvall, F Pavel Gogolev, F Dryden Hunt, D Rasmus Sandin, 2023 third-round pick, 2025 first-round pick, 2026 second-round pick
Washington Capitals
Acquired: D Rasmus Sandin, F Craig Smith, 2024 third-round pick (BOS), 2024 third-round pick (MIN), 2025 second-round pick (BOS), 2025 second-round pick (COL)
Traded: F Lars Eller, D Erik Gustafsson, F Garnet Hathaway, F Marcus Johansson, D Dmitry Orlov
Tampa Bay Lightning Acquire Mikey Eyssimont
The Tampa Bay Lightning and San Jose Sharks have completed a trade, sending veteran forward Vladislav Namestnikov to the Bay Area in exchange for Mikey Eyssimont. As part of the deal, Tampa Bay will retain 50% of Namestnikov’s $2.5MM cap hit.
Namestnikov, 30, is a pending unrestricted free agent, while Eyssimont, 26, will be an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent in the summer should the Lightning choose to extend him a qualifying offer. Eyssimont spent right around two months in San Jose, arriving there via a waiver claim from the Winnipeg Jets.
He’s an energetic, speedy forward who might not have an easy time cracking the Lightning’s lineup, but should be capable depth for their bottom six should a winger get injured. The Lightning cleared some cap space through this deal by sending away Namestnikov, who has been a healthy scratch, so that’s also a factor working in Tampa Bay’s favor with this deal.
Trade Deadline Primer: Tampa Bay Lightning
The trade deadline looms and is now just a few days away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have become the class of the NHL in the last decade. With two Stanley Cup championships and a third trip to the finals in the previous three years, the Lightning are poised to make another deep run. But first, they will likely have to battle the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round.
The Maple Leafs have made some big adds in the past few weeks, which prompted Tampa Bay to make a splash this past Sunday with the expensive addition of Tanner Jeannot. While Tampa Bay may have spent big on the rugged forward, GM Julien BriseBois boasted that he had no issues dealing future draft capital for a team firmly entrenched in win-now mode.
After the Maple Leafs made another addition yesterday, could BriseBois feel the need to make another move?
Record
37-18-4, 3rd in the Atlantic
Deadline Status
Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
Deadline cap space $769,967, 0/3 retention slots used, 49/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly
Upcoming Draft Picks
2023: TB 6th, TB 7th
2024: CHI 4th, TB 5th, TB 6th, TB 7th
Trade Chips
Tampa Bay has very little in the way of draft capital in the next three entry drafts. They have already dealt their next three first-round picks and don’t have a second-round pick until 2025. Should they stand pat, the Lightning wouldn’t pick until the sixth round this season.
Tampa Bay also don’t have much flexibility for another trade deadline addition, as they have less than $1MM in cap space available for the deadline. This would mean any potential deal would need a third party to facilitate the move or be a dollar-for-dollar trade.
On the prospects side, Tampa has emptied the cupboard during their three runs to the finals, but it is not without good young players. Despite dealing picks seemingly every year, BriseBois and company have found value in the later draft rounds. Nick Perbix is a former sixth-round pick in 2017 who has established himself on Tampa’s backend, and Ross Colton was a fourth-round pick who scored a Stanley Cup-winning goal just three years ago.
Team Needs
BriseBois has stated publicly that he would like his team to be harder to play against; this was an area he addressed with the Jeannot addition. It could be a development to keep an eye on as Tampa is staring down two tough series in Toronto and potentially the Boston Bruins. BriseBois may want to add further toughness to his lineup like an Austin Watson-type player. Watson is a pending UFA in Ottawa and could be the type of addition BriseBois would look at.
The Lightning would also do well to add to their defense core. The back end is the only glaring weakness on the club, and is something BriseBois would do well to address. His ideal target would likely be a right-shot defenseman, as Zach Bogosian currently occupies the top right-side spot next to Victor Hedman. Bogosian is a battle-tested warrior but probably isn’t equipped for those hard minutes at this stage of his career. The cost to acquire this type of player is likely out of Tampa’s price range, but never count out the creativity of Julien BriseBois.
Tampa Bay Lightning Acquire Tanner Jeannot
The Tampa Bay Lightning have made a huge splash, acquiring another inexpensive, versatile forward to try and help them reach the Stanley Cup. Nashville Predators forward Tanner Jeannot has been sent to the Lightning in exchange for a massive trade package. The Predators will receive:
- Cal Foote
- 2025 1st round pick (top-10 protected)
- 2024 2nd round pick
- 2023 3rd round pick
- 2023 4th round pick
- 2023 5th round pick
Jeannot, 25, comes to Tampa Bay as he finishes up a two-year contract that carries an $800K average annual value. That nearly league-minimum salary is exactly why the Lightning had to pay so much, and continues their trend of acquiring players with team control. Jeannot will be a restricted free agent this summer and though he has a strong case to land a hefty raise through arbitration, will help improve the Lightning for more than just the next few months.
A breakout star last season with the Predators, the physical forward scored 24 goals and 41 points as a rookie, while racking up 318 hits. The hitting remains this year but the offensive production has dried up, with just five goals so far for Jeannot in 2022-23.
It will be interesting to see if that goal-scoring touch returns in Tampa Bay, as the draft haul they gave up makes a lot more sense if they are acquiring the player from last year. The Lightning have continued to fill out their lineup with gritty, in-your-face players that can still contribute, and if Jeannot returns to his past form he may be the best among them.
Still, it is a massive price to pay for a player who has struggled this year. The Lightning now don’t have a pick in 2023 until the sixth round, and won’t select in the first round until 2026 at the earliest, assuming no other moves. “Win now” is the name of the game with this group, but it will be an impressive experiment to see just how long they can keep the window open.
The Lightning scouting and development team has been excellent at finding diamonds in the rough, but even they will be hard-pressed to refill the cupboard with just a handful of late-round picks in play.
For the Predators, a sell-off like this on the day they announced David Poile’s upcoming retirement is quite something. Jeannot was an undrafted, homegrown prospect that the program can be proud of, especially now that he’s turned into a massive return. If they can pull off a few more deals like this, new GM Barry Trotz will be set up for success.
Lightning Open to Trading Cal Foote
- One right-shot defenceman that is available is Cal Foote. Emily Kaplan of ESPN reports the Tampa Bay Lightning are open to moving the 24 year-old defender. The Lightning have already traded their first and second-round picks in 2023 and first-round pick in 2024 so they are low on assets at this deadline. Their general manager Julien BriseBois has stickhandled around sticky cap situations before and will have to do the same this season to add before Friday’s deadline.
Erik Cernak Suspended Two Games
4:00 pm: NHL Player Safety has suspended Cernak for two games as a result of his actions, as announced Friday afternoon. They cited his previous suspension, as well as Cernak’s deliberate shift of his elbow to target Okposo, as reasoning behind the suspension.
9:41 am: The NHL Department of Player Safety announced today that Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak will have a hearing for elbowing Buffalo Sabres captain Kyle Okposo during last night’s game.
The incident occurred late in the third period (video link) when Cernak delivered a high elbow to Okposo’s head, spinning him around and knocking him to the ice as he attempted to gain the offensive zone. Okposo was slow to get up after the collision but rejoined the action. Officials did not assess a penalty to Cernak on the play. Buffalo would win the game a few moments later on an Ilya Lyubushkin shorthanded breakaway in overtime, defeating the Lightning 6-5.
Cernak has been suspended once before in his career, also for elbowing. NHL Player Safety handed out a two-game ban to Cernak in November 2019 after he elbowed Sabres defenseman Rasmus Dahlin, causing a concussion. With the incidents occurring more than 18 months apart, however, Cernak isn’t considered a repeat offender.
Cernak, 24, has seen his defensive metrics dip this season after multiple seasons of elite shutdown play. Offensively, he’s contributed a goal and 10 assists in 51 games, spending most of his time paired with Ian Cole. He’s locked into an eight-year, $41.6MM extension that kicks in next season.
Okposo, 33, is leading by example as the Sabres prime themselves to enter the playoff conversation for the first time in a decade. Largely in a fourth-line, shutdown role, Okposo has added seven goals and 14 assists in 49 games this season as he nears the 1,000-game plateau.
Tampa Bay Lightning Assign Gemel Smith To Henderson Silver Knights
- In a puzzling move, the Tampa Bay Lightning today loaned forward Gemel Smith to the Henderson Silver Knights, the AHL affiliate of the Vegas Golden Knights. Tampa’s affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, announced the news this afternoon. Smith hasn’t played with the Lightning this season, but has lit up the minors with 37 points in 35 games with Syracuse thus far. It’s unclear what, if any, compensation Syracuse might receive for losing their third-leading scorer to a different organization.
Erik Cernak Day-To-Day With Upper-Body Injury
The Tampa Bay Lightning are without a top-four defenseman tonight, per Lightning Insider’s Erik Erlendsson. Erik Cernak has an upper-body injury and is listed as day-to-day.
Latest On Luke Schenn
One of the names that have been floating around in trade speculation for weeks now is Vancouver Canucks defenseman Luke Schenn. The tough, experienced defender would be a good fit on several clubs, in part due to his extremely reasonable cap hit of $850K.
Today, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports that things are “getting close” on Schenn, and notes that the Calgary Flames and Boston Bruins are still in the mix to acquire the veteran. The Tampa Bay Lightning, meanwhile, who have been linked most often to Schenn thanks to their history together, are out, according to Pagnotta.
If the reported price tag of a third-round (or more) is correct, you can see why the Lightning might decide to pull out of the running. The club doesn’t have much ammunition to make trades this year after sending multiple first-round picks away, and probably doesn’t want to use their highest selection this year on a player that would see limited minutes in the postseason.
Of course, things could certainly change. Depending on how long these negotiations go and how many other pieces are moved in the meantime, new contenders might emerge for Schenn’s services. Even if he isn’t going to make a huge impact, getting a two-time Stanley Cup champion for $850K is certainly an intriguing option for many contenders.