The Tampa Bay Lightning have a core that is made up of Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov, Victor Hedman, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Brayden Point that will be with the team for at least the next three years (longer since Point will be an RFA when his contract is up again). That’s three elite forwards, an elite defenseman, and an elite goaltender all with the team for the rest of their primes. That’s pretty good.
Add to them a supporting cast led by Ryan McDonagh, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat, Yanni Gourde, and Alex Killorn that is making some money and are on the older side, but are providing immediate value for a win-now team and who can be moved if/when cap issues arise (read: J.T. Miller). Behind even them is a youth group of arguably better players starting with Mikhail Sergachev, Anthony Cirelli, Mathieu Joseph, and Erik Cernak that are on entry level deals but are set to need more money in the coming year or so.
The Tampa Bay Lightning front office formerly headed by Steve Yzerman and now Julien BriseBois have assembled an all-star team. This team has been on a knife’s edge between winning it all and collapsing for so long, it seems like a miracle that they still have more time to win that elusive Stanley Cup.
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The question today is how did they do it, and how are they going to do it moving forward? Every year it seems to be getting harder than the last and the options to create room and make space are becoming increasingly hard to find. The Lightning are one of those teams that are really good at punting the ball down the field and dealing with it in a few years time when they as a team, and the league, has changed in unexpected ways. Their version of the punt has been the bridge deal.
In this article, we’re going to look at bridge deals being a good way to separate the good player and the stars, and how the third contracts for these players create a best-case scenario for both sides.
First, let’s lay out the contracts on five key players that I think best describe this tactic in negotiations.
Nikita Kucherov
Second Contract: 3 years, $4,766,667 – 6.53% of salary cap at signing
Third Contract: 8 years, $9,500,000 – 11.95% of salary cap at signing
Andrei Vasilevskiy
Second Contract: 3 years, $3,500,000 – 4.79% of salary cap at signing
Third Contract: 8 years, $9,500,000 – 11.66% of salary cap at signing
Alex Killorn
Second Contract: 2 years, $2,550,000 – 3.70%
Third Contract: 7 years, $4,450,000 – 6.10%
Tyler Johnson
Second Contract: 3 years, $3,333,333 – 4.83%
Third Contract: 7 years, $5,000,000 – 6.67%
Ondrej Palat
Second Contract: 3 years, $3,333,333 – 4.83%
Third Contract: 5 years, $5,300,000 – 7.07%
Bridge deals are a great method for teams to be able to have more data on a player in order to get a better idea of the their true performance level based on as many as six years of information. For players, it’s also a chance for them to develop into a valuable contributor and earn a long-term contract at the end of it. If a player can show that they can be a more reliable player in the league, they’ll naturally make more because it’s a safer bet to invest in.
This summer’s poster boy for a bridge deal working for both sides is Patrik Laine. Laine can’t ask for potential output if that output is not a guaranteed thing. He wants to show, within the next two or three years, that he has that quality within him. The Jets want nothing more than for Laine to turn into his generation’s premier goal scorer but they just can’t take the risk on a long term deal if he falls apart or can’t put together a 200ft game. Or at least some version of one.
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Separating the Haves from the Have-Nots
Whether it’s the team kicking a contract down the road, or wanting to get more data on their young talent, if a player can show that he is a legitimate top-tier player, the Lightning are more than willing to dole out the cash for them.
Looking at the first two examples, Kucherov and Vasilevskiy both got healthy contracts after back-to-back breakout seasons where they were able to prove the money they argued for in negotiations. From what we heard, both negotiations went off without a hitch and happened before either player hit RFA status. Now, after the last two summers, their contracts seem like massive steals, but there are many other variables that get in the way of that (RFA status, team discount, etc).
“Teams like Tampa have been very successful with a certain structure. They do pay their guys but the bridge deal has been something they’ve done with pretty much every one of their top players. So I think going into it, we were prepared to go down that road.” – Gerry Johannson, via Sportsnet
And that’s where the non-monetary value of a bridge deal comes in. On top of wanting to keep a winning team together, there’s simply way less pressure. If the team, media, and fans know how good a star is, no one will feel nearly as nervous about the contract, which does a lot to ease the pressure on the player to perform or live up to the money.
For the latter three players who did not become stars in the league, didn’t get the big bucks, but they still turned their tenure into a valuable deal. For Johnson, Killorn, and Palat, they got healthy bridge deals at an AAV that at the time that would’ve been market value. On their third contracts, they not only got a raise, but something that non-stars generally do value a lot — security. They got term on their deals, guaranteed money (upwards of $35 million), and no-trade clauses so they could settle down in the city and focus on nothing else but hockey for the majority of their primes.
Now, that might be a naive way of thinking, but the vibe I get from hearing players and staff is that it does make things easier. There’s less pressure to move an overpaid player because there are no players making more than they’re worth. If anything they’re making less, which is more attractive to the team on the roster or in a trade. Case in point the JT Miller deal —he was on a bridge deal that was attractive to a team close to the cap, which kept his value high.
Creating a Smooth Transition
One thing that’s important with contracts is working the term so that money is coming on and off the books in a sustainable and easy to manage way. Long term contracts are great, but they really limit the amount of turnover a team can have. Three years is a long time and a lot of things can change.
If a team has a strong prospect pipeline — like the Lightning do — it’s important to create space for the best prospects when the time comes for them to step into the NHL. Not only do teams need to make roster space for them, but also salary space when they become RFAs for the first time.
I spoke about this earlier with the Miller trade. Bridge deals (and the third contracts they create with middle-six players), are valuable trade chips. Young teams are constantly looking for those “vets” who aren’t making too much but can augment a roster.
The plan with the Lightning is very clearly moving out the Johnson, Killorn, and Palats of the roster to make space for Anthony Cirelli, Mathieu Joseph, and Mikhail Sergachev, who are all RFAs next summer. It keeps the team young, competitive, and under the salary cap without sacrificing much in terms of known quantities.
Not all three will go next summer, the team still has space to make things work, but over time as those contracts start to create a crunch, there’s a relatively easy way to get out from the squeeze without losing much in trade value. The Lightning dumped $5.25 million in salary (Miller) and got a first round pick from Vancouver back for it on top of opening space for their young players to step into a better role. That’s a lot better than what some other teams have had to do this summer.
No Trade Clauses
The one drawback is that the Lightning have put themselves in a bit of a tough position by giving their middle players no trade clauses. For example, Johnson has been very clear that he doesn’t want to leave Tampa Bay.
Luckily for the team, they negotiated that the no trade clauses would become modified (x-team yes list) in the final years so the team can move them when the time comes. This clause change happens to Killorn next summer, Johnson and Palat the year after, and Yanni Gourde the summer after that. So as that money is able to come off the books, Point and the other young players will presumably also be looking for a raise. The timeline is perfect!
Getting Players to Buy In
Now, this method is great for the team and takes advantage of the players to some extent, so it’s not perfect. However, as long as the team can live up to the pressure from the players to put together a winning team and being forthcoming when it comes to those third contracts, there’s not much to complain about. They get everything they want, including hopefully a ring at the end of it all.
Full credit for this plan obviously goes to Julien BriseBois and Steve Yzerman for starting with his complimentary players and getting them to buy into the bridge deal format. Killorn was the first to do so in this era, and it became a pretty straightforward model for the players on the team after him. Creating that culture and honest business practice of taking care of players after they provide that cost certainty is easy to replicate and even allows budding stars to get paid the big bucks when the time comes.
In Conclusion
Sometimes it’s good to kick the can down the road, especially when there is a plan to take care of everyone in between. Since being hired as an Assistant GM, JBB has been implementing this system with the help of healthy relationships and a winning roster composition. It may not work for every market, but it works for the Lightning, which is why they’ve been able to keep their Stanley Cup window open for the better part of this decade. There aren’t many teams that can boast this.
