Offseason

[dannyb24195]

Now that the Lightning postseason play is over, it's time to look ahead to what's in store in for the offseason. Yzerman has around $21 million in cap space to play with but he has some tough decisions to make as this offseason Steven Stamkos is a pending UFA and Nikita Kucherov, Alex Killorn, J.T Brown, Vladislav Namestinkov, Cedric Paquette & Nikita Nesterov are all RFA's and due raises. The year after Ben Bishop & Victor Hedman are UFA's with Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat & Jonathan Drouin all being RFA's.

Lets start with Steven Stamkos. I think we have seen the last of Steven Stamkos in a Lightning uniform. Lightning reportedly offered a deal that was $8.5 mill per, which in my opinion is a respectable offer. I think Yzerman could probably offer around $9.5 mill at the maximum but I don't think he would be willing to offer that much. Stamkos wants to win and also in the process get paid. I just think if Stamkos tests the waters there will be teams that can offer him more than the Lightning and a have chance to compete.

The next big decision is what to do about the goalie situation going forward, personally I would trade Bishop this offseason. Looking ahead the 2017 offseason I think it would come down to either losing Bishop or Hedman to Free Agency. You can't afford to lose a player of elite level for nothing. In my opinion that way to look it as, do we have #1 Defenseman in our system? No. Do we have a #1 Goalie in our system? Yes we have Vasy. Vasilevski has all the ability to be a #1 Goalie in this league and we saw a glimpse of that in the playoffs. Due to Vasy I believe we can afford to move Bishop, I know it would be tough as Bish is arguably the best goalie in the league but you can ill afford to lose Hedman in my opinion as we don't have a replacement within for Hedman where as we do when it comes to Bishop with Vasy waiting in the wings.

A deal that makes sense as there were reports in the season that a deal was being discussed would be Bishop going to the Flames for Sam Bennett. If Stamkos leaves with I believe will be the case that Bennett would be a nice replacement. Bennett is a 19 year old Center who has all the ability to be a #1 Center in this league. He had 18 Goals and 18 Assists in is rookie season. The Flames a deep down the middle of the ice with Monahan-Backlund-Colborne and are in need of a Goalie and Bish would be a great addition. I think Bennett would fit in nicely as the #2 Center on this team with Johnson as the #1 and Filppula as the #3.

The re-signing of Alex Killorn is a big one in my eyes, he is so underrated in my opinion. He's a 200 foot player who plays are a very effective power/speed game, he's such a nice complementary player to the more skilled players likes of Johnson and Kucherov and when it comes to playoff time he always plays his best hockey. I would like to see Yzerman to lock him for the long term, Killer goes under the radar but he's a really good hockey player. I hope Yzerman signs the RFA's such as Brown, Namestinkov and Paquette as they are nice role players and in the terms of Brown and Namestinkov they are players that continue to get better.

If the Lighting made the moves above they could afford to add a top 6 forward and a capable goalie which is required so somebody can share the net with Vasy. I think one of Loui Eriksson, Milan Lucic, Andrew Ladd or Jiri Hudler would be a good addition. I think Eriksson would be ideal, I think the more realistic option would be Hudler. In goal I like James Reimer or Carter Hutton.

Team:

Eriksson/Hudler-Johnson-Kucherov
Palat-Bennett-Drouin
Killorn-Fippula-Callahan
Namestinkov-Boyle-Brown

Paquette

Hedman-Stralman
Garrison-Sustr
Koekkoek-Coburn

Carle
Nesterov

Vasilevski
Reimer/Hutton

 

[Bolt Fore]

Danny you made no mention of Gudlevsky who in my opinion
is almost as good as Vasi, he would make a good backup.
And we wouldn't have to give up a player in trade.

 

[Todd1a]

It's early I think bishop and vasy are the goalies next year bishop has a full nmc and he is not waiving to move to Canada. The more I think about it I still think Stamkos is staying. ESpo said on wdae Marty St. Louis told Stamkos to stay in Tampa. Just no way you move bishop look at Montreal without price if vasy got hurt we would be done. You roll bishop and vasy again! Till you no longer can't! Stamkos is not going to be able to sign with a contender? Who has room for him that's really good ? Carle is buyout bound or trade bound! Condra trade or we bury him in the minors and save 900 k on his cap.

 

[dannyb24195]

Just looking ahead if we keep Bishop, I just think we lose Hedman or Bishop in free agency in 2017. I understand it would be a big step up for Vasy but I think he's ready, at the end of the day he is no Mike Condon. As for Gudlevskis reports are that hes going to play in Finland next year.

As for Stamkos i hope he resigns and part of me thinks he will just based on the fact there is a lot of unfinished business apart of this team but there is more of me saying he won't resign. I think Buffalo is the landing spot for me. He goes as close to home as possible, he gets paid and he joins a up and coming team that hasa chance to compete going forward.

 

[Bolt Fore]

Gudlevski to Finland ???? . I hope not , could he just sign with anyone then ??'
He is definitely going to be a #1 goalie in the NHL some time.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

If I were Stamkos, I would lower my asking price to about $8.5 million to stay with the Lightning. If he grew up in Toronto as a Maple Leafs fan, then he should know better than anyone that there's no hope for that team. Either way, Lightning will be in great shape. With Stamkos, the Lightning will have the best sniper in the game. Without Stamkos, Lightning will have cap space to add 2 good players to their roster. I would also consider trading Ben Bishop. You could get a lot in return for him right now, plus I think Andrei Vasilevskiy will be just as good, if not better.

 

[Todd1a]

If I were Stamkos, I would lower my asking price to about $8.5 million to stay with the Lightning. If he grew up in Toronto as a Maple Leafs fan, then he should know better than anyone that there's no hope for that team. Either way, Lightning will be in great shape. With Stamkos, the Lightning will have the best sniper in the game. Without Stamkos, Lightning will have cap space to add 2 good players to their roster. I would also consider trading Ben Bishop. You could get a lot in return for him right now, plus I think Andrei Vasilevskiy will be just as good, if not better.

Doobee I wish Stamkos would read this lol! I think Stamkos wants 10 or 11 per year. Kessel just got out of Toronto and looks like he is loving life right now.

 

[Todd1a]

Gudlevski to Finland ???? . I hope not , could he just sign with anyone then ??'
He is definitely going to be a #1 goalie in the NHL some time.

He is a rfa I don't see him ever being a nhl starter bolt I
Think
He becomes a solid back up
I'm the nhl. Two years as a starter in the ahl his number are
Not that great there ok.

 

[dannyb24195]

In terms of the Stamkos situation i think it's always been a case that Stamkos wants to win and stay here but also wants to play in the big market and play for his hometown team but after this playoff run I think it's become more that Yzerman is not going to make an offer that doesn't make sense.

Another deal that would sense would be moving Bishop to the St. Louis Blues for Brian Elliott, Ivan Barbashev and a draft pick. From the Blues perspective they have two good goalies but that was goaltending was their downfall in the conference final. The addition of Bishop would probably make the Blues the best in the west. Bishop would joining a contending team plus play for his hometown team so you would figure he would accept a trade their. Blues assistant GM the great Marty Brodeur is a big fan of Bishop and if Bish is available I can see the Blues making a push for him to put them over the top.

From our perspective the Lightning get a good goalie in Elliott and therefore they don't have to rush Vasy into playing 60 plus games. Vasy could play 60% of the games and Elliott 40% of the games. Barbashev is the Blues top prospect, he's a year or two away but he can potentially be a #1 Center if not a good 2# Center and we also get a draft pick that Yzerman likes.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

Doobee I wish Stamkos would read this lol! I think Stamkos wants 10 or 11 per year. Kessel just got out of Toronto and looks like he is loving life right now.

True Todd, most great players want to get out of Toronto, this would be one of the few times someone great is actually trying to get in. Stamkos should know better. He'll get paid well either way, but he'll live a happier life playing for the Lightning & winning than he would playing for the Maple Leafs & losing.

 

[dannyb24195]

Here's what I would like to see happen and try and be realistic in the sense:

1. Re-sign Steven Stamkos! My mind has changed on this one. At the end of the day this is a star driven league and Steven Stamkos is a star. Sure the Lightning showed they can go on a run without Stamkos in the lineup but how are they going to cope over the mammoth 82 game season and how they going to replace his goals? Sure the playoff run showed that maybe Stammer isn't a key as we thought but this team is also a better team with him in the lineup. Another thing to point is that his stats have declined over time but when you go from playing with Marty St. Louis to at times playing with complementary players such as Killorn and Callahan your stats are bound to decline. Now that Drouin is back don't you think if they get played together that Stamkos is going to get 40 + plus goals maybe even 50? He's the face of the organization, our captain and all-around our best player. I do think he wants to remain here and win and as he said there is unfinished business amongst this group. I think Yzerman budges on his asking price and so does Stamkos and he signs an 8 year $76 million dollar deal ($9.5 AAV). A very respectable deal when you compare this deal to Anze Kopitar 8 year $ 80 million dollar deal signed a few months back.

2. Trade Ben Bishop. Lightning send Ben Bishop and Cedric Paquette to the Blues for Brian Elliott, Ivan Barbashev and a pick. This would be a good deal for both sides as explained in my last post.

3. Buy Out Matt Carle. Lightning would save $3.8 mill the next couple of seasons until his contract expires. The Bolts would have to pay a penalty of $1.7 for the 2018-2019 & 2019 - 2020 season due to the buy out. Either way Carle's role has been reduced over time and his time is up as a member of the Lightning.

4. Re-sign your pending FA's!

Kucherov signs a 6 year 39 mill deal ($6.5 AAV)
Killorn signs a 4 year 15 mill deal ($3.75 AAV)
J.T Brown signs a 2 year 2.25 mill deal ($1.125 AAV)
Nikita Nesterov & Jonathan Marchessault signs 1 year deals.

5. Trade Vladdy Namestinkov. As much as Vladdy as improved we are stacked upfront and similar to the Connolly trade we were acquired draft picks for the player, I think this would be the case with Vladdy. Think Carolina would be a nice landing spot.

6. Waive Eric Condra. If nobody claims Condra then assign him to the AHL. Things haven't worked out for him in Tampa and again we have too many forwards for him to be on the team.

7. Free Agency!

Sign Darren Helm 3 years $8.25 mill ($2.75 AAV)
Sign Marek Zidlicky to 1 year deal.

I really like the idea of signing Darren Helm. Very versatile and reliable player who can play top 6 or bottom 6 and play all situations (PP & PK) and although he plays wing he's good on draws, an area that we need to improve upon. He played in the wings top 6 and with Datsyuk at times but I prefer him in the bottom 6 on the 3rd line were he's on a checking role and can chip in offensively and score 15 goals.

Zidlicky would be a signing that would be low cost 1 year deal. Can see Zidlicky being someone who can share that #6 defenseman spot with Koekkoek. Zidlicky would help as he's a puck moving defenseman and someone who be a PP QB.

Team:

Palat-Stamkos-Drouin
Killorn-Johnson-Kucherov
Helm-Filppula-Callahan
Richard-Boyle-Brown

Marchessault

Hedman-Stralman
Garrison-Sustr
Coburn-Koekkoek/Zidlicky

Nesterov

Vasilevski
Elliott


I think this team is a good one and a team that could be competitive in the east. A very skilful top 6 and a bottom 6 that can primarily check but can also chip in offensively, a really solid defense and two good netminders.

 

[Todd1a]

With bettman saying the cap won't go up next season not good at all for trying to sign Stamkos

 

[Todd1a]

Stevie yzerman has got to buy out carle and move a bad contract out

 

[dannyb24195]

With bettman saying the cap won't go up next season not good at all for trying to sign Stamkos

At the end of the day sure if you re-sign Stamkos you might lose a player like Johnson or Palat the following year but it's easy to replace a Johnson or Palat rather than Stamkos, again yes the played well in the playoffs without him but what about the 82 games that get them there, how do they cope? To me you build around you stars like the Pens and Hawks have done for example (Crosby, Malkin & Letang, Toews, Kane & Keith). Sure there will be times were you may not be able to keep good players but if you have a farm system that continues to produce young talent and a GM that can finds way to be creative and make good deals to keep the team under the cap then it can work.

 

[DoobeeDoobeeDoo]

With bettman saying the cap won't go up next season not good at all for trying to sign Stamkos

Might be a blessing in disguise if he's really gonna ask for $9 million. You guys could use that cap space to fill in more depth talent, and I think the #1 thing people will be looking for is speed. You guys have a very fast team already, add a couple more speedsters and you guys are gonna be damn scary next year.

 

[dannyb24195]

I used to follow a website called capgeek that was great in terms of it would show the rosters of all 30 teams and their cap situation. I have been unable to access capgeek for abut a year know but I've found a new one called cap friendly which is just as good. Once I found a website that could provide the cap situation I was very quick to draw up my offseason plans. When I did my 1st offseason plan last Friday the bolts had roughly 21 mill in cap space, this has since dropped 3 mill to 18 mill. This confused me as the bolts haven't signed anyone but I then noticed that all 30 teams cap dropped by 3 mill so I figured this is the cap for the upcoming season. When doing my off seasons plans I added all the contact together to see if I could get under the project cap, it was a squeeze to move Bish and sign Stamkos and the others with 21 mill, now that the cap has dropped 3 mill to 18 mill I can't see us being able to retain Stamkos even with moving Bishop.

So here we go again:

1. Lets Stamkos Walk!

For the reasons explained above, signing him would split the core up but even more so now and it's got to the point were it simply wouldn't be worth it even though he's our best player.

2. Move Bishop

Again for the reasons explained before. To be honest I think the only team he accepts a trade to is St. Louis. Lightning get Brian Elliot, prospect Mackenzie MacEachern and a 3rd round pick.

3. Buy out Matt Carle

As explained in my last post.

4. Trade Eric Condra

I believe the Bolts could get a low end prospect or draft pick for Condra given he's only 2 years left on a $1.125 deal.

5. Resign FA's!

Kucherov signs a 6 year 39 mill deal ($6.5 AAV)
Killorn signs a 4 year 15 mill deal ($3.75 AAV)
Namestinkov signs a 2 year 4 mill deal ($2 AAV)
J.T Brown signs a 2 year 2.25 mill deal ($1.125 AAV)
Cedric Paquette and Nikita Nesterov signs 1 year deals.

6. Re-sign Victor Hedman - 8 years 60 million ($7.5 AAV)

I wouldn't let Hedman get anywhere near Free Agency, need to get the big man locked up long term!

7. Free Agency

Sign Jiri Hudler 3 years 12.75 mill ($4.25 AAV)
Sign Marek Zidlicky to 1 year deal

I would love to sign Loui Eriksson but I think he'll be looking to cash in big and I see him being out of the bolts price range. Therefore the bolts go for a cheaper option and sign Hudler. I have always liked Hudler and I think Yzerman will know him well from his Detroit and he's a good fit in terms of style of play and the ability to bring the best out of young players such as Monahan and Gaudreau in Calgary.

Zidlicky I explained previously.

If Yzerman creates cap space I think he'd be smart and not spend it (in terms of Free Agency), just make a couple of signings and no long term commitments because the following off-season you need to re-sign Johnson, Palat, Drouin, Vasy & Sustr.

Roster

Salary Cap - $71,400,000 Cap Spent - $66,200,000 Cap Space - $5.2 million

Lineup

Palat-Johnson-Kucherov
Drouin-Namestinkov-Hudler
Killorn-Fippula-Callahan
Paquette-Boyle-Brown

Vermin

Hedman-Stralman
Garrison-Sustr
Coburn-Koekkoek

Zidlicky
Nesterov

Vasilevski
Elliott

 

[Todd1a]

I used to follow a website called capgeek that was great in terms of it would show the rosters of all 30 teams and their cap situation. I have been unable to access capgeek for abut a year know but I've found a new one called cap friendly which is just as good. Once I found a website that could provide the cap situation I was very quick to draw up my offseason plans. When I did my 1st offseason plan last Friday the bolts had roughly 21 mill in cap space, this has since dropped 3 mill to 18 mill. This confused me as the bolts haven't signed anyone but I then noticed that all 30 teams cap dropped by 3 mill so I figured this is the cap for the upcoming season. When doing my off seasons plans I added all the contact together to see if I could get under the project cap, it was a squeeze to move Bish and sign Stamkos and the others with 21 mill, now that the cap has dropped 3 mill to 18 mill I can't see us being able to retain Stamkos even with moving Bishop.

So here we go again:

1. Lets Stamkos Walk!

For the reasons explained above, signing him would split the core up but even more so now and it's got to the point were it simply wouldn't be worth it even though he's our best player.

2. Move Bishop

Again for the reasons explained before. To be honest I think the only team he accepts a trade to is St. Louis. Lightning get Brian Elliot, prospect Mackenzie MacEachern and a 3rd round pick.

3. Buy out Matt Carle

As explained in my last post.

4. Trade Eric Condra

I believe the Bolts could get a low end prospect or draft pick for Condra given he's only 2 years left on a $1.125 deal.

5. Resign FA's!

Kucherov signs a 6 year 39 mill deal ($6.5 AAV)
Killorn signs a 4 year 15 mill deal ($3.75 AAV)
Namestinkov signs a 2 year 4 mill deal ($2 AAV)
J.T Brown signs a 2 year 2.25 mill deal ($1.125 AAV)
Cedric Paquette and Nikita Nesterov signs 1 year deals.

6. Re-sign Victor Hedman - 8 years 60 million ($7.5 AAV)

I wouldn't let Hedman get anywhere near Free Agency, need to get the big man locked up long term!

7. Free Agency

Sign Jiri Hudler 3 years 12.75 mill ($4.25 AAV)
Sign Marek Zidlicky to 1 year deal

I would love to sign Loui Eriksson but I think he'll be looking to cash in big and I see him being out of the bolts price range. Therefore the bolts go for a cheaper option and sign Hudler. I have always liked Hudler and I think Yzerman will know him well from his Detroit and he's a good fit in terms of style of play and the ability to bring the best out of young players such as Monahan and Gaudreau in Calgary.

Zidlicky I explained previously.

If Yzerman creates cap space I think he'd be smart and not spend it (in terms of Free Agency), just make a couple of signings and no long term commitments because the following off-season you need to re-sign Johnson, Palat, Drouin, Vasy & Sustr.

Roster

Salary Cap - $71,400,000 Cap Spent - $66,200,000 Cap Space - $5.2 million

Lineup

Palat-Johnson-Kucherov
Drouin-Namestinkov-Hudler
Killorn-Fippula-Callahan
Paquette-Boyle-Brown

Vermin

Hedman-Stralman
Garrison-Sustr
Coburn-Koekkoek

Zidlicky
Nesterov

Vasilevski
Elliott

If we let Stamkos walk no reason to move bishop let him and vasy roll again and get another year of
Great goaltending! I don't see us being active in fa at all I see us moving garrison and buying out carle moving condra and still sign Stamkos and keep bishop for one
More season.

 

[Todd1a]

Hedman gets 8 per year or 8.5 he is not going to take 7.5.

 

[dannyb24195]

If we let Stamkos walk no reason to move bishop let him and vasy roll again and get another year of
Great goaltending! I don't see us being active in fa at all I see us moving garrison and buying out carle moving condra and still sign Stamkos and keep bishop for one
More season.

I think it would be very challenging for Yzerman to keep both Bish & Stammer, he would have to create a fair amount of cap space to do so (can't see us moving Garrison). At best they would be able to keep one of Bishop or Stamkos and apparently at this point hockeybuzz is reporting the bolts are leaning towards resigning Stamkos and moving Bishop.

 

[Todd1a]

I think it would be very challenging for Yzerman to keep both Bish & Stammer, he would have to create a fair amount of cap space to do so (can't see us moving Garrison). At best they would be able to keep one of Bishop or Stamkos and apparently at this point hockeybuzz is reporting the bolts are leaning towards resigning Stamkos and moving Bishop.

cant become montreal next year if vasy goes down like price did then we got no goalie! elliot for one year helps but then after that then what ? right now yes ive always said he yzerman wants to keep stamkos it's clear he has to move something out to keep him. question is does a team want to help the lightning keep stamkos ?