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Lightning Round: Tampa Bay’s summer to-do list updated with Nick Perbix signed

Posted on by Hardev

Nick Perbix signed a very frugal two-year deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning yesterday with a cap hit of $1.125 million, which is just above the buryable amount in the NHL. This cheap deal, to go along with quite a few raises starting next season, gives us a more clear picture into what the Lightning’s roster is going to look like next year.

The projected roster for next year currently sits with the following players signed:

7 Forwards: Kucherov, Point, Stamkos, Cirelli, Paul, Hagel, Maroon
7 Defenders: Sergachev, Hedman, Cernak, Myers, Perbix, Bogosian, Fleury
1 Goalie: Vasilevskiy

And the Lightning have the following free agents:

7 Forwards: Killorn (UFA), Namestnikov (UFA), Colton (RFA), Bellemare (UFA), Perry (UFA), Koepke (RFA), Fortier (RFA)
2 Defenders: Cole (UFA), Foote (RFA)
1 Goalie: Elliott (UFA)

Julien BriseBois’s To-Do List based on this situation will probably look something like this:

  1. Figure out what to do with Philippe Myers, who is not an NHLer but has a contract that can’t be fully buried in the minors. A buyout last year would’ve given the Lightning a cap credit, but that loophole doesn’t work with his extension. They’ll try to trade him, but might be stuck with $250k in dead cap next year.
  2. Hedman, Sergachev, Cernak, and Perbix makes a decent group of four, but the Lightning have needed Cole this year to play a second pair defensive role. He will either need an extension or be replaced.
  3. Up front, the big decision will be whether they can afford to bring back Killorn, and whether he’ll want a home discount or not. He’s a good second liner with good finishing skill in front of the net. The Lightning should be trying to keep him if league revenue cooperates.
  4. As for the rest of the forwards, JBB’s one job with Ross Colton is to not overpay him. Colton is a useful player, a 20-goal scorer, and his story into the show is an impressive triumph, but his ceiling still shouldn’t cost more than $3 million. It also shouldn’t be expected that the 26-year-old will show improvement from now on.
  5. And last, re-tooling the fourth line if the vets decide to hang them up. Does Koepke get a full-time job?

All of these items on the To-Do List are contingent on knowing what the salary cap ceiling is going to be next year. It’s going up, but by how much? With no cap increase, the Lightning have $7.9 million in space with the currently signed roster of 15 players. Some positions will be filled at low cost (the fourth line, bottom pairing, and backup goalie should all make less than a million).

The question then becomes, will the Lightning be able to get rid of Myers? And how much can they spend on two members of their middle six? It’s about $4 million with a flat cap. How much more will they be able to spend?

That Brandon Hagel trade/contract is really saving the team right now.

The Tampa Bay Lightning signed Nick Perbix to a contract extension yesterday. After signing him to an ELC last spring, January 1st was the earliest they were allowed to extend him. [Raw Charge]

“On Monday, the Tampa Bay Lightning announced that they signed defenseman Nick Perbix to a two-year contract extension. The contract carries a cap hit of $1.125 million for the 24-year old rookie. A right-hander, Perbix was drafted in the 6th round, 169th overall by the Lightning in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.”

The Syracuse Crunch lost their phone number a few years ago in Laval and ever since the Rocket have handed their number back to them each time the two teams play. This weekend they were out-scored 4-11. [Raw Charge]

Syracuse has not had much success in Laval the past couple of years, and that trend seemed to continue at the end of 2022. Syracuse was 0-2 in the 2019-2020 season, 1-5 in Laval in the 2021-2022 season, and now in 2022-2023 they are 0-4.

Tampa’s Twenty Twenty-Two by the numbers. Lots of good, a sour finish, and a bold new direction into the future.

Speaking of bold new direction, the NHL is pairing their two new expansion franchises and putting them in a baseball stadium for next year’s Winter Classic. It’s going to be Seattle vs Vegas at the Mariners’ ballpark.

While this is bad news for the Blues, both of their top pending UFAs should be healthy by the trade deadline (March 3rd).

A reminder that “Hockey Mom” can mean more than just one thing.

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