Tampa Bay Lightning Free Agents: Should they stay or should they go?

Name: Matthew Peca

Age: 25

Position: C

Free Agent Status: Unrestricted

Matthew Peca played just 10 games with the Lightning this season and registered two goals and three assists in that time.  He spent the majority of this season with the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL, where he tallied 13 goals and 33 assists for a total of 46 points.

Peca finished the season with a -1 plus/minus rating and has never had a positive rating in his AHL career.  To put that in perspective, only five Lightning players finished the regular season with a negative rating this year.  Of those five, one of them was battling an injury most of the season (Ryan Callahan) and one spent most of the season with another team (J.T. Miller).

At age 25, Peca still hasn’t been able to crack the Lightning’s line up full time. While this may be cause for concern, next year could finally be Peca’s year.  He should be able to find a spot on the Lightning’s 4th line and will fill that spot with a fairly inexpensive contract.

The inexpensive part is the biggest benefit of resigning Peca, as regardless of the salary cap increase, the Lightning will be strapped for money in the upcoming season.

Verdict: Stay.  2018 may finally be Peca’s year to stick in the NHL.  His contract should be fairly inexpensive, which will be extremely beneficial in the coming years for a Lightning team that will almost assuredly be cap strapped.