Salary cap deep dive: Tampa Bay Lightning

Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM. Teams that can avert total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful. Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2020-21 season. This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL. All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Current Cap Hit: $98,785,916 (over the $81.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

D Callan Foote (one year, $925,00)

Potential Bonuses
 Foote: $500,000

Championship teams often don’t have many entry-level contracts, and the Lightning are no different. Tampa Bay does have Foote ready to step into the lineup after the Lightning moved on from Brayden Coburn, and the rookie has taken a third-pairing role and likely will play sheltered minutes for most of the season even if he did already score a goal in just four games this season.

One Year Remaining, Non-Entry-Level

F Marian Gaborik ($4.88 million, UFA)
G Anders Nilsson ($2.6 million, UFA)
F Blake Coleman ($1.8 million, UFA)
G Curtis McElhinney ($1.3 million, UFA)
F Barclay Goodrow ($925,000, UFA)
D Luke Schenn ($800,000, UFA)
F Alexander Volkov ($700,000, RFA)
F Gemel Smith ($700,000, UFA)
D Andreas Borgman ($700,000, RFA)

The Lightning is using its cap space wisely, taking advantage of several injured players and going out and acquiring several other contracts of players on LTIR to maximize their cap space. The contracts of Gaborik and Nilsson will help Tampa Bay for cap purposes but will also expire next season. The Lightning also made a couple savvy deals at the trade deadline last year when acquiring Coleman and Goodrow in separate moves. Not only did each player make big contributions during the Lightning's championship run, but both are still on affordable contracts for this year. The question will be whether Tampa Bay can bring one or both of them back for next season.

The Lightning also has 37-year-old backup netminder in McElhinney. The veteran has been out for the start of the season, but it is believed he’ll be back soon and should be quite reliable. McElhinney had a .906 save percentage in 18 games and should help Tampa Bay this year. The Lightning might opt to go in a different direction for 2021-22. Schenn is another key depth piece for the Lightning.

Two Years Remaining

F Brayden Point ($6.75 million, RFA)
F Ondrej Palat ($5.3 million, UFA)
D Jan Rutta ($1.3 million, UFA)
F Pat Maroon ($900,000, UFA)
F Mathieu Joseph ($738,000, RFA)
F Mitchell Stephens ($738,000, RFA)

Tampa Bay has a number of players signed long-term, but the Lightning have a few other key players they might want to lock up. One player will be Point, who has taken his game to a whole new level in the last couple of years. The 24-year-old scored 32 goals in 2017-18; 41 in 2018-19; 25 in 66 games last season and has established himself as a first-line player. He will be eligible for an extension at the end of this season, and it will be interesting if Tampa Bay gives him a long-term deal then.

While Palat’s contract looked questionable a year ago when injuries were significant issues, he had an impressive year last season, putting up 17 goals and 41 points and was an essential top-six player. Maroon and Rutta both have been essential depth options for the Lightning, while Joseph and Stephens have taken significant roles on their fourth line after splitting time between the AHL and NHL last year.

Three Years Remaining

F Anthony Cirelli ($4.8 million, RFA)
D Mikhail Sergachev ($4.8 million, RFA)
F Alex Killorn ($4.45 million, UFA)
D Erik Cernak ($2.95 million, RFA)

Tampa Bay finally was able to get all three key restricted free agents under contract, signing them to three-year bridge deals. Cirelli, Sergachev and Cernak are critical players, and the Lightning can get three years out of them before having to figure out the complexities of their cap situation at that point. Cirelli, 23, had 16 goals and a career-high 28 assists in 68 games last season. Sergachev, 22, worked his way into Tampa Bay's top-four on defense and had a career-high 10 goals last season. Cernak, 23, had a second straight solid season as a top-four defenseman, including 172 hits last year. The Lightning might be forced to move one of them down the road, but they are certainly locked in for the near future.

Killorn is the only player who will be an unrestricted free agent in three years. The 31-year-old had a breakout year last season with career highs in goals (26) and points (49).

Four Or More Years Remaining

G Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million through 2027-28)
F Nikita Kucherov ($9.5 million through 2026-27)
F Steven Stamkos ($8.5 million through 2023-24)
D Victor Hedman ($7.88 million through 2024-25)
D Ryan McDonagh ($6.75 million through 2025-26)
F Yanni Gourde ($5.17 million through 2024-25)
F Tyler Johnson ($5 million through 2023-24)

Tampa Bay has its core locked up, something a championship team would have anyway, for quite a long time. The Lightning are starting the first year of Vasilevskiy’s deal, which runs for eight years. However, at just 26 years old, he should make that deal look pretty good. Vasilevskiy was impressive last season with a 35-14-3 record, a 2.56 GAA and a .917 save percentage in 52 games and should continue to be dominant for many years to come.