STAMKOS SUITORS GO TO PLAN B

When Steven Stamkos decided his heart was with the Tampa Bay Lightning by agreeing to an eightyear contract extension, it meant several teams were forced to shift the focus of their free agent shopping plans. Here’s a look at Plan B for those teams that were planning to bid on Stamkos, with all salary cap information coming from Generalfanager.com:

BOSTON BRUINS

Cap space: $19.2 million Players to sign: Nine Losing: Loui Eriksson, Chris Kelly, Lee Stempniak, Jonas Gustavsson What’s next: The Bruins need to find a scoring winger to replace Eriksson. Possible targets: Kyle Okposo, Jason Demers or Cam Fowler (through a trade)

BUFFALO SABRES

Cap space: $19.5 million Players to sign: Five, including restricted free agents (RFA) Rasmus Ristolainen, Jake McCabe, Marcus Foligno and Zemgus Girgensons Losing: David Legwand What’s next: Still in a rebuilding mode, general manager Tim Murray will look for veteran scoring wingers or defensemen on shorter contracts. Possible targets: Stempniak or Brian Campbell

DETROIT RED WINGS

Cap space: $18 million Players to sign: Five, including RFAs Petr Mrazek, Danny Dekeyser and Teemu Pulkkinen Losing: Darren Helm, Brad Richards, Kyle Quincey What’s next: The Red Wings want to add toughness and scoring, and they are thin at center. They also need to upgrade their defense, but the crop of free agent defensemen isn’t bountiful. Possible targets: Troy Brouwer, Milan Lucic, David Backes, Okposo

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

Cap space: $15.4 million Players to sign: Six, including RFAs Ryan Strome and Shane Prince Losing: Okposo, Frans Nielsen, Matt Martin What’s next: Need a scoring winger to play with John Tavares. Possible targets: Eriksson, Mikkel Boedker, Andrew Ladd

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Cap space: $6.9 million Players to sign: Three, including RFAs Peter Holland and Martin Marincin Losing: P.A. Parenteau, Michael Grabner, Brad Boyes What’s next: The Leafs have an additional $8.3 million in cap space because Nathan Horton and Stephane Robidas are on the longterm injury list. The rebuilding Maple Leafs might not do much. They want to add toughness and grit. Possible targets: Martin

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Cap space: $10.1 million Players to sign: Two Losing: Dan Hamhuis, Radim Vrbata, Linden Vey, Matt Bartkowski What’s next: The Canucks are caught in the in-between stage where they have too much talent to rebuild and not enough to contend. They are looking for a firestarter who can rally them. Possible targets: Lucic or Okposo