Tampa Bay Lightning Fourth Line Projections:
- Pat Maroon
- Mikey Eyssimont
- Rudolfs Balcers
Marron and Eyssimont are both signed and under contract. It is unclear with Bellemare will come back to join this line. Cap space for next season isn’t even the issue, it’s whether or not Tampa wants him back or wants to get younger.
As we chronicled on the site when debating whether to bring back Corey Perry, that paring of Perry and Maroon just isn’t a good one anymore. It creates a line that is just too slow and too vulnerable to the rush.
So if Perry does come back, Maroon has to be split up from him. Eyssimont looked decent in his small sample size with Tampa, but his size is a concern.
Even though he is only 25 years old, Rudolfs Balcers has played 170 games in the NHL and has scored 62 points. That averages out to 30 points over an 82-game schedule, which would be just fine for Tampa if he is on the fourth line.
While Balcers would need to be signed as an RFA, and that is far from a guarantee, Tampa is also in need of cheap contracts, and he might just fit the bill.