LIGHTNING

TAMPA BAY

The Lightning gave up a significant package to obtain J.T. MILLER and Ryan McDonagh at the trade deadline. McDonagh is signed through next season, but Tampa Bay has to renew Miller, a pending RFA. GM Steve Yzerman’s biggest task, however, will be working on an extension for Nikita Kucherov, something that can be announced after July 1. Kucherov signed a three-year bridge deal in 2016 with a cap hit of just $4.8 million, which helped the team gain cap relief, but he won’t be as charitable this time around, particularly after finishing third in NHL scoring with 100 points. Any new deal won’t kick in until 2019-20, so the Bolts might want to get this done before Kucherov goes out and lights it up again next season.