What will the Lightning roster look like in 2017-18?

[BreadManPanarin]

Here are the guys that are currently under contract for 2017-18:



Lightning will have estimated cap space of $32,087,500(per Spotrac).

Guys with expiring contracts:
2016-17:
Kucherov (RFA)
Killorn (RFA)
Namestnikov (RFA)
Nesterov (RFA)
Marchessault (UFA)
Blunden (UFA)


2017-18
Bishop (UFA)
Hedman (UFA)
Johnson (RFA)
Palat (RFA)
Vasilevskiy (RFA)
Drouin (RFA)
Boyle (UFA)
Sustr (RFA)
Taormina (UFA)

Which of these guys will get paid, how much, and what will this team look like in 2017-18 after the dust settles?

[Eskimo Brother]

Really tough to tell. They have some hard choices ahead, starting with dealing Bishop, and ending who knows where.
I think we see Kuch in the Forsberg contract range, Johnson close to the same, Palat gets 5-5.5. Hedman deserves 7.5-8, and they will want to keep Stralman for 5.5-6.
The rest are smaller deals that will be fillers around this core, and I'm not sure how they make it work without dealing/buying out Carle/Garrison.

[BreadManPanarin]

Really tough to tell. They have some hard choices ahead, starting with dealing Bishop, and ending who knows where.
I think we see Kuch in the Forsberg contract range, Johnson close to the same, Palat gets 5-5.5. Hedman deserves 7.5-8, and they will want to keep Stralman for 5.5-6.
The rest are smaller deals that will be fillers around this core, and I'm not sure how they make it work without dealing/buying out Carle/Garrison.

Sounds like your thinking is very close to mine. ~6mil for Kuch, ~6 for Johnson, ~5 for Palat, ~8 for Hedman, that's 25 right there. 6 for Stralman would make it 31 out of 32 spent.

How much will they need to pay Vasilevskiy?

Seems like very very safe money to bet on Bishop being gone, as well as Killer and most of those role players. Wonder if they will be able to find a way to squeeze Drouin in there....

[Pengwin7]

It's gonna be crazy...
I really thought they'd be better without Stamkos - which is why I speculated (mainly) that he'd leave and that they'd let him.
Bishop is gone, that's a certainty.
I think they let him stay on roster and eat starts just so that Vas has no claim to a hefty RFA contract request.

I agree with prices.
$6m+ for Kucherov, and
$6m for T.Johnson
$5m+ for Palat
$9m for Hedman...

It's crazy... considering they almost went to the Cup again without Stamkos, I would've said that would be their best route.
We shall see... something's gonna give...

[BreadManPanarin]

I think they let him stay on roster and eat starts just so that Vas has no claim to a hefty RFA contract request.

Yeah, honestly I am starting to think they will keep Bishop for all of 2016-17 because he gives them the best possible chance at securing a cup before things start to get dicey and the team gets less deep. Very tough choice... move him for future assets or go 100% for the cup right now. Plus what you said makes sense, if they keep Bishop and ride him into the ground then Vas will likely be cheaper going forward. So interested to see what happens here....

[Pengwin7]

Then again... if TB parted with Bishop NOW, they'd have enough cap space to pay Killorn & Nesterov, both of whom I thought were underappreciated contributors last season.
Right now, I think they only have enough cap space to give Kucherov to a likely $6m (F.Forsberg-like contract).
With Elliott to CGY and F.Andersen to TOR... there just ain't many clubs that want one year of Bishop, though...
No NHL GM has a numbers-puzzle like Yzerman - I'd really hate to be in his position this summer and next.

Getting Stamkos @ $8.5m was a great start.
In the thread I made last summer, most everybody was predicting he'd get about $10m AAV.

[BreadManPanarin]

Then again... if TB parted with Bishop NOW, they'd have enough cap space to pay Killorn & Nesterov, both of whom I thought were underappreciated contributors last season.

True. But who gives you a better chance at hoisting the Stanley this year... Bishop or Killorn & Nesterov?

[Ingolo]

Whenever I look at their cap situation, Callaghan jumps out to me as a potential trade option. Moving him along opens up a ton of cap space, and since his role has been shrinking the last two years, now might be the last best chance they have to get a solid piece back for him. He's a. If part of their game, but he's definitely not the player he used to be. Might just make the most sense to move on and open up an opportunity for one of the young kids. They just need him to waive his NTC.

[Eskimo Brother]

Whenever I look at their cap situation, Callaghan jumps out to me as a potential trade option. Moving him along opens up a ton of cap space, and since his role has been shrinking the last two years, now might be the last best chance they have to get a solid piece back for him. He's a. If part of their game, but he's definitely not the player he used to be. Might just make the most sense to move on and open up an opportunity for one of the young kids. They just need him to waive his NTC.

Moving him where though. That's the real question.

[forsbergfan]

stamkos taking a discount tells me everyone will be taking a discount. kucherov probably gets a bridge deal instead of a long term one as originally planned in the hope the cap goes up more in the next 2-3 years. hedman, palat and Johnson sign for less than they deserve. hedman would get 9mil. now i'd say he'll get around 7.5.
bishop is gone, though.

[Ingolo]

Moving him where though. That's the real question.

That's the real issue. I'm sure Arizona or Columbus would gladly take him, but with the NTC they'll be handcuffed to only talking to teams he wants to play for. If they could out something together with Boston I think he'd look great in their top six, but they're running out of assets to trade, and still need a top 4 dman. Montreal is a bit thin as well, but again, they're not set up as a good trading partner ATM. Plus, I don't know how Yzerman feels about dealing within his conference or even his division. The only other place I could see might be Minny. Maybe add a piece to Callaghan for a defence man?

There are places he MIGHT be willing to go, but who knows if he actually wants to. That's the biggest problem really.

[Seeds of Grapes]

Whenever I look at their cap situation, Callaghan jumps out to me as a potential trade option.

Montreal will surely trade Gallagher for Callahan. Gallagher is younger, more effective and loved by the fans. Bergevin will move him.

[BreadManPanarin]

Montreal will surely trade Gallagher for Callahan. Gallagher is younger, more effective and loved by the fans. Bergeron will move him.

Someone needs to reduce the sodium in their diet a bit. Cuz that's just Salty!

[rataylor22]

I think they're going to trade Bishop and Kucherov for Gaudreau,

Then they'll trade Stamkos for Matthews, and Hedman for Drew Doughty.

This is an absolutely useless exercise. It's a year away. A year ago nobody would have told you Taylor Hall was the only young guy traded out of Edmonton, Weber wasn't in Nashville, and Subban was out of Montreal. Try and figure out what the team will look like 4 months from now, that's hard enough.

Anyone telling you they have a semblance of a clue what a team might look like 16 months from now is completely naive and clueless.

[BreadManPanarin]

This is an absolutely useless exercise.

Sorry for wasting your time. I found it interesting.