The Tampa Bay Lightning have a few very important gaps to fill in their roster this summer as some key positions see players going to UFA. The front office is looking for a backup goaltender left by Brian Elliott, a top-four defender left by Ian Cole, and most importantly a top-six left wing job left by Alex Killorn.
Holes on the roster
The goaltending should be pretty straightforward to solve with goalie coach Frantz Jean in the fold. I have a lot of respect for him and his ability to find and work with goalies. He found Vasilevskiy and the backup job has been one of little turmoil and change in the past few years. If the next one up is Hugo Alnefelt or they find someone else through UFA, it won’t be for more than $800k, which is perfect.
Finding top-four defenders is really difficult, especially when there’s not much money to spend at the position. It seems like the Lightning are prepared to go onto next season with Hedman, Sergachev, Cernak, Perbix, and Raddysh as their five and just deal with the multi-year hole left by Ryan McDonagh by committee.
I believe losing Alex Killorn will be a loss similar to that of McDonagh on the many levels hockey lives in. On the ice, Killorn is a 30-goal scorer who can beat goalies off the rush or from in-zone cycles, he’s a leader defensively, and his impact off the ice is monumental.
Killorn’s value
Simply put, Killorn is irreplaceable, especially if the proposal is to promote from within. There’s no one in the organization who can fill in those goals at the very least. Cole Koepke washed out and couldn’t stick, Colton and Jeannot have never played above the third line. The Lightning don’t have any draft capital to acquire someone of Killorn’s calibre, like Travis Konecny or Brock Boeser, and Killorn is going to give the best deal out of any UFA to come to Tampa Bay.
Which is why re-signing Killorn is the only option this summer.
This all lines up from a cap perspective, too. There’s little to no supply of top-four defenders on the market, so re-allocating the money back there is very unlikely to happen, spreading the $5.5-6 million through the bottom six isn’t going to add up to 30 goals. The best way the Lightning can keep the most talent on the roster is to make tough decisions and re-sign Killorn.
The salary cap
If the Lightning are able to move away from Philippe Myers and find some fourth liners and a backup goalie for about $800k, they will have about $7 million to sign Killorn, Colton, and Jeannot, or their equivalents with a 21-man roster. It goes up to $7.8 million with no spares.
I have no idea what Jeannot should make, his contract projection will be an article on its own. You could argue he should make less than a million or more than $3.5 million depending on what lens you see the player from.
Colton is a lot more simple as he’s likely going to get a modest raise from his $1.15 million cap hit from last year. If he can stay within $1.5 million that will be great. The ceiling might be something like current UFA third liner Pierre Engvall’s $2.25 million, however.
Whatever Killorn makes is basically whatever the Lightning can afford. If the Lightning lose out on their RFA negotiations and pay Colton and Jeannot more than $3 million, kiss Killorn goodbye because he’s not taking what he got on his last contract. Finding another million out of the first two puts Killorn’s number up above $5.5 million, which on an eight-year deal is competitive on the open market (equivalent to $6.3 million on a seven-year).
That’s where I think they need to get to.
Can’t afford to lose #17
Going back to my original point, Killorn is the priority this summer. Keeping him saves this team from having another chunk taken out of it, a chunk that cannot be replaced. If that means making tough decisions on Colton or Jeannot, so be it. If that means playing hardball with Colton and walking him to free agency, or if it means not qualifying the player JBB spent his first five picks in the draft for and replacing him at league minimum, that’s what’s best for the team.
Yeah, it’s tough to hear, but I don’t know if paying Tanner Jeannot is worth it, especially if the cost is losing Killorn. Jeannot can’t replace Killorn, if he could then it’s a different story.
Tell me what you think in the comments, can the Lightning have it all? Am I overrating Killorn? Underrating someone else?
Lightning Links
There was very little news on Sunday as the Stanley Cup Finals are on a two-day break as the teams travel from Florida to Nevada. There were no signings, trades, or hires to speak of. Game 5 is on Tuesday, and with Vegas up 3-1, it could be all over.
Is Scott Laughton on the move? All eyes on Noah Hanifin? 2024 #NHLDraft location? 🗺️@FriedgeHNIC and @DavidAmber discuss what's going on behind the scenes in the NHL. 👇 pic.twitter.com/QgYoA4AN5e
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) June 11, 2023
WNBA icon Sue Bird officially had her #10 retired in Climate Pledge Arena, where the Seattle Storm and Kraken play. The point guard has the league record for assists with 3234 and minutes with 18079. Bird played her whole career with the Storm after being their first overall pick in 2002.
RAISE THAT BANNER! 🐐
Congratulations @S10Bird on having your number retired with the @seattlestorm! #10forever pic.twitter.com/xmBm1swCNf
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) June 11, 2023
I told you it was a lean hockey night. Not even the AHL or ECHL finals were on.
A legendary career 🧡@S10Bird is officially in the rafters at Climate Pledge Arena after an amazing basketball career like no other#MoreThanGame pic.twitter.com/v9o81XShZN
— WNBA (@WNBA) June 12, 2023
The NBA Finals is tonight with Denver at home leading 3-1. As mentioned above, Vegas will get the chance to do the same tomorrow night.
