Tampa Bay Lightning Moving Forward In Free Agency

The Tampa Bay Lightning locked up their two key franchise pieces and the presumptive goaltender of the future in free agency already, so what does that mean for the franchise moving forward?

With the 2016 NHL Free Agency period already in full swing, the Tampa Bay Lightning have flexed their muscle and secured their two main franchise players long-term as well as goaltender Ben Bishop‘s potential replacement, Andrei Vasilevskiy. How does that affect the Lightning moving forward?

Well, on Wednesday, the Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed their franchise center, Steven Stamkos, to an eight-year, $68 million contract, with an $8.5 million average annual value. Once free agency opened on Friday afternoon, the Lightning secured their number one defenseman in Victor Hedman with an eight-year contract extension, averaging around $7.875 million per season.

With those two locked up for another eight years, the Lightning also made an interesting move and signed Bishop’s primary backup to a three-year extension, worth around $3.5 million per season. Altogether, that leaves the team with around $12 million in salary cap space to work with to sign other key players.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Aside from Stamkos, Hedman, and Vasilevskiy, the Tampa Bay Lightning need to address the contracts of Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Nikita Nesterov. Out of those four players, Kucherov is the main focus. The 23-year-old Russian forward set career highs in goals and points last season and was an integral part in the team’s second consecutive appearance in the Eastern Conference Final.

Moving forward, the Lightning need to reach a deal with Kucherov, as he has proved his value to this franchise in spades over the past two years. With the salary cap space remaining, it’s possible to sign the Moscow, Russia native to a six-year contract extension, averaging around $6 million a season. This deal would be similar to what the Nashville Predators did with Filip Forsberg this offseason.

If the Lightning sign Kucherov, a restricted free agent, to a similar deal, that leaves those other three players mentioned and the possibility of a trade or two. The buyout of Matt Carle and former Tampa Bay defenseman Mattias Ohlund‘s contract coming off the books this summer has certainly opened up some cap space, but it’s still going to be tight. Remember, every team has to be under the upper limit of the cap when the season begins.

With those numbers figured in, that leaves just enough space to sign Killorn, Namestnikov, and Nesterov. There have been rumors that Killorn may walk if a deal with the Lightning doesn’t suit him or the team. The 26-year-old Harvard University graduate was signed to a two-year deal with an average annual value of $2.55 million. I believe his play over the past two seasons has warranted a raise and an extension with a $3.8 AAV might be attainable.

Looking ahead to next year’s offseason, the Tampa Bay Lightning have quite a few contracts to deal with as well, especially Ben Bishop, who will be an unrestricted free agent in 2017. After Vasilevskiy earned a three-year extension, there has been speculation that Bishop will either be traded or let go in free agency next year, which makes sense.

In addition, the 2017 offseason will feature an expansion draft and lock up Vasilevskiy was important because the Lightning will have to expose one goaltender regardless and many believe he has more value than Bishop long-term. This is not knocking down the two-time Vezina trophy finalist, but he will turn 30 in the near feature and the injuries he has sustained in key moments in the playoffs have left many wondering if that will be a reoccurring theme.

Related Story: Tampa Bay Lightning Re-Sign G Andrei Vasilevskiy

Bishop is a world-class goaltender and a very important piece on the Lightning, but the team is looking ahead and it appears that Vasilevskiy will be his replacement sooner or later. The looming expansion draft next year has put pressure on General Manager Steve Yzerman and his staff to protect the future and they’re doing their best to make the right moves. The overarching idea here is that they could trade Bishop and maybe one other player and gain some solid pieces in return.

With all of these contracts and scenarios to deal with during free agency this year, I wouldn’t expect the Lightning to do much in terms of signing other UFAs or RFAs, but I also wouldn’t completely rule it out. One player that comes to mind is defenseman Justin Schultz, who was a part of the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ run to the Stanley Cup last season.

Originally drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round in 2008, Schultz was traded to the Penguins after spending three and a half seasons with the Edmonton Oilers. The 25-year-old Kelowna, BC native is a right shot defenseman, which the Lightning could use, and would fit well on the bottom pairing or as a seventh defenseman, whichever head coach Jon Cooper decides to utilize.

Schultz, an unrestricted free agent, was not given a qualifying offer from the Penguins and was previously signed to a one-year $3.675 million contract. If signed by the Lightning, I wouldn’t expect them to go too high or low below that amount.

Otherwise, Bolts Nation shouldn’t expect too much else from the Tampa Bay Lightning this offseason other than locking up Kucherov and the other RFAs mentioned and potentially finding a different spot for center Valtteri Filppula, only if they see he no longer fits here.

Next: Lightning C Steven Stamkos Proves Money Isn’t Everything

The past few days have been very exciting for Tampa Bay Lightning fans and the franchise has locked up two of their most important players going forward. It’s relieving to know that we’ll hear Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman’s name surrounding the Lightning for the next eight years. There is still much to be taken care of, but we have faith in what Steve Yzerman has done thus far.