Cap crunch puts squeeze on Cup champs
The Tampa Bay Lightning better enjoy the Stanley Cup celebrations while they can.
Some of them might need to fill out change of address cards in the next couple of weeks.
To say the Bolts have salary cap issues would be an understatement and that means general manager Julien Brisebois has likely been doing a lot of talking in the last 72 hours. It’s been speculated the Lightning would like to clear US$ 10 million off the books so they can keep most of its core group together.
The Lightning have about $5.3 million in cap space, but they have several players to sign.
Brisebois will be looking to sign restricted free agents Anthony Cirelli, Erik Cernak and Mikhail Sergachev. All were strong performers for the Bolts in the post- season and the organization is trying to find a way to juggle all the pieces to make this work.
The names most often mentioned as possibly being on the move in Tampa are forwards Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Yanni Gourde and Alex Killorn.
All of those players have no- trade clauses and there’s talk Johnson has zero interest in waiving his to move on.
“My preference, if I got to choose, what I would want to do is bring everyone back as is and we try to defend our title; the reality is, I can’t do that,” Brisebois said last week.
“The cap just doesn’t allow that to happen. It never does for any team. There’s always some turnover, and this year the turnover is going to require that some of our players that have been here for a while and just helped us win a championship aren’t going to be returning.”
Easing their cap crunch isn’t going to be an easy task for the Bolts.
Interest in Laine
An interesting team to watch on the Patrik Laine front may be the Philadelphia Flyers.
The talk is they’re making an aggressive push for the Winnipeg sniper and have the ability to make the deal if they can find the right fit with the Jets.
A league executive speculated Sunday the Flyers would probably see if Winnipeg has any interest in defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere. He has three years left on his contract with a cap hit $ 4.5 million per season. The Jets could also look to get a second- line centre in return.
The Columbus Blue Jackets and the Montreal Canadiens are both believed to have made pitches for Laine, 22, who has 138 goals and 247 points in 305 NHL games. You have to think the Jets would want Phillip Danault in return in any deal with the Habs.
The Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, New York
Rangers, Minnesota Wild and Florida Panthers all have interest as well.
The Jets are also trying to get defenceman Dylan Demelo signed, but there’s a sizable gap to bridge if that’s going to happen. Demelo was dealt to Winnipeg by the Ottawa Senators at the February trade deadline.
First Pick speculation
Rangers GM Jeff Gorton confirmed in a call with reporters Friday that he’s listening to offers for the No. 1 overall pick.
But it’s highly unlikely New York will move the top selection it holds for the first time in franchise history and will take Alexis Lafreniere of the Rimouski Oceanic with the selection.
“I’ve taken calls on it, that’s the job,” said Gorton. “We’ll listen to anything, but we’re comfortable picking first overall. We look forward to Tuesday. I’ll always take the calls, but I would say our eye is on taking the pick.”
Hasty buyout?
The Arizona Coyotes exercised a buyout on the final year of Michael Grabner’s $3.775-million contract Sunday. As a result, the Coyotes only have about $1 million in cash savings. More than one league executive wonders why Arizona didn’t at least put him on waivers first with his whole contract attached to see if anybody would bite. In some cases, teams will see a player clear, then try to make a trade for him and perhaps Arizona could have just retained salary. Instead, they’re on the hook for $2.51 million over the next two years and Grabner will likely sign elsewhere.
RUMOURS DU JOUR
There’s a chance Pittsburgh goaltender Matt Murray could be moved before the NHL Draft is completed Wednesday and if not, he’ ll receive a qualifying offer from the Penguins. He will get a $ 5- to-$ 6 million award in arbitration and indications are the Chicago Blackhawks have shown more than a passing interest. The Hawks are looking for a long- term solution in net with Corey Crawford set to become a free agent. Murray could provide that answer and the 26- yearold has two Stanley Cup rings. Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa are also kicking the tires and the thinking is Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford would prefer if Murray was moved west. The Hawks made one move Sunday by sending D Olli Maatta to Los Angeles for minor- leaguer Brad Morrison, which got $ 3.3 million off the books ... A player to keep an eye on in Chicago is winger Brandon Saad. He has one year left on his contract with a cap hit of $ 6 million and the Hawks have been trying to deal him to free up cap space. ... The Panthers are making lastgasp effort to sign winger Mike Hoffman, but that appears to be a long shot.