Let me know what you guys think (especially TB fans).

They clearly have the roster to win the cup. But I don’t see them as the favourites unless they get Karlsson. But I’m still jealous. Lol. The state tax bs better be rectified in the next CBA. The advantage is too big. No way Stamkos and Hedman should have signed those ridiculous team friendly deals. So jealous lol

Killorn has been a guy that's been given a lot of ice in big games, solid defensively, and has size.
I'd be tempted to see what Gourde could get in return on a trade as one of the young guys with speed and skill or TJ should be able to fill his spot. Tough call though. Depends how salary negotiations go with Gourde.
Probably overpaid Koekkoek.

uhhhh we traded Howden

@ Mardzy
That is fair, Killorn is definitely a solid player, however Gourde has much more upside offensively, but then the question becomes do they need more scoring, or is their bottom six better fitted to play a more defensive game (not sure how Gourde plays in his own end). As for Koekkoek, you may be right, I have not watched him a lot, I made his extension on a whim. Thanks for the feedback.

@Hedman77
That is my bad, I forgot he was traded to NYR. I have updated the roster accordingly.

-----Also as a side note, the picks that are displaying in 2023 are actually picks in 2019, I am not sure why they are appearing there-----

I think you overpaid a few players, but not enough to get enough cap to do anything significant. You might want to take some cap off to help you with Vasilevskiy and Sergachev later, though. Gourde is also more of a winger than a center. I say move Gourde to Conacher's spot, move Conacher down to the fourth line, move Cirelli up to the third-line center, and move Volkov to the fourth-line center, as he is a natural center.



They were the opening favorites for next season, and though shutting down the Leafs has become harder, once the Lightning improve their defensive structure and chemistry, considering their offensive depth, they should be the better team even without Karlsson. But, just wondering, why is the fact that larger markets can offer lucrative endorsement deals and such is okay if lower taxes if unfair? And honestly, a lot of players think there's not that big a difference between making $7m or $11m and would take that kind of discount for nice weather, a chance to contend for a Cup, and to avoid having to move. The Lightning took full advantage of their tax situation, but to say that it's the only reason Yzerman could build a team like that is simply incorrect. I haven't seen the Panthers win a Cup yet, and the Stars don't seem to be able to build a perennial contender either....

Thanks for the input. There is still 15M in cap space (@ an 80M cap), which Vasy and Sergachev would eat into massively, making it difficult to sign some of the players on one year deals that I have above. Also, I am interested to know who you think I have overpayed (I don't necessarily disagree, just curious).

There is also always the option of trading Tyler Johnson to create cap space, as some cheaper players such as Gourde or Raddysh (depending on how well he plays) could round out the top 6.

I would like to compliment you on a job well done. Finding a way to keep Gourde is best case scenario.

Thank you.

And definitely, I would imagine Tampa does everything in their power to keep both Gourde and Point, even if it means sacrificing a player like Tyler Johnson (who would not be difficult to trade as he has a reasonable cap hit, solid game, and is a second line center on most teams).

Rather see something else with Karlsson

That's fair, I am going to work on something for that. I don't see how that warrants a 1 star rating however, unless you feel this mock team isn't a good one? Keep an eye out for the new team

It will cost more than a 3rd to shed cally

If you reduce the term for Point by a couple of years, you can probably get him on around a $5,000,000 deal. I can certainly see why you wouldn’t want to do that, though, since he would be a lot more expensive to re-sign afterwards, but Yzerman tends to bridge good players and pay them later (Kucherov, Johnson, Palat, etc. all signed a bridge deal at around that salary a few years ago). That’s also more than I would expect for Stralman at his age and production. You could maybe reduce Koekkoek by a tiny bit, though it depends on how he does this year. I also might be under-estimating these just because I’m a Lightning fan and am internally biased to believe that players will take discounts to stay. Overall, though, this is probably one of the best attempts I’ve seen at managing their cap situation without making bad decisions and losing people because of it.



If anyone could do that without losing too much, it would be Yzerman, but Karlsson’s expensive, both to acquire and to keep. Sure, he’s an elite player, but at some point you’re losing more than you’re really getting. If they lose Sergachev and Foote, and can’t re-sign Point and/or Vasilevskiy, those are huge losses that aren’t easy to recover from, especially since they’d lose many picks as well. I would much prefer to see the Lightning without Karlsson than without Sergachev, Point, and top prospects.

I think a 3 year deal would definitely be cheaper, however they just signed JT Miller to 5.25, and I don't see Point getting less than that, so maybe a 3 x 5.25 deal?



Fair point, I wasn't sure on him. I did 4.75 just to give him a bit of a raise, but possibly something lower. They do have Cal Foote coming up, with Dotchin projected to be top four, so he is slowly on his way out the door I imagine.



I wasn't sure what to give Koekkoek, so I very well could have overpayed him, but like you said, it depends on his year (same goes for Point extension on that matter).



To your point, almost all of TB's core has taken less money to play there, especially Hedman. It is a great place to play and live (been there a couple of times), and for a Southern city, they have a great, supporting fanbase.



I absolutely agree. EK is a great defenseman, but i feel that TB is an overall better team without him, and are in better shape for the near future as well (with extensions for Sergachev, Point, Gourde, Vasilevsky, etc.). I actually just made a post for TB getting EK and made a mock roster for the 18-19 and 19-20 season, check it out if you can, I am interested to know what you think about it.

That's true. Kucherov took less than $5,000,000 on a shorter-term bridge deal, and I was sort of going by that. But, the salary cap has gone up, which means player salaries have gone up. Point plays a more important role than J.T. Miller, and, as a two-way center, has a more valuable skillset than Miller (centers are worth more, speed is worth a lot and Point was a tenth of a second away from beating McDavid for fastest skater at the all-star game, and defensive forwards are in demand, especially if they can also score). I would say anywhere from $5m-$6m is reasonable for a bridge deal for Point, and $6.5m-$7m if you want to sign him longer term. It is hard to see him making less money than J.T. Miller, though. $5.25 for three years is reasonable, but honestly I would prefer to pay him $6.5m and add a seventh year. Yzerman tends to prefer the bridge deal route, though, and in that case you can reduce his term and free around $1m of salary.



With Sergachev and Foote coming up and Hedman and McDonagh great defensemen, Stralman could play in a third-pairing role, which may make sense for him as he ages. The Lightning could always have one of Hedman, McDonagh, or Stralman on the ice (with Sergachev and Foote providing additional offense as well), which would easily be among the best defensive groups in the League. The Lightning's offer could honestly be less than $4m, and he can take it if he wants to stay and contend for a Cup, or leave it (they have Cernak or Koekkoek to replace him if necessary, though that's probably downgrading). If he wants to get paid and play in a more major role, then he's probably leaving. I don't see Tampa giving him a raise, though. Then again, solid defensive defensemen are becoming more valuable, so it could happen, especially if they're not confident enough to form a pairing with two of Cernak/Koekkoek/Dotchin and Stralman doesn't want to take a crazy discount to play in a limited role. If he does re-sign, I expect that contract to be his last with Tampa.



I can see them trying to extend Point this year, like they did for Kucherov. Yzerman said that he likes to give players peace of mind and help himself understand what cap space they have to work with. For Koekkoek, though, they're definitely not extending him beyond the one year this offseason, leaving his salary to be determined by his production and consistency this season.




That's definitely true. Vinik is probably the best owner in all of sports, and the Lightning is overall a really well-run organization. Tampa itself is a great place to live, with great weather (it does get hot, but it's near the water, which keeps it cooler than some other places), a rather cheap cost of living (and no state taxes, allowing Yzerman to give them almost their entire salary in bonuses so they can take home more income), access to things like beaches, and a great fanbase. Plus, we have one of the best prospect pools in the League and are an immediate Cup contender. There's certainly a reason people take discounts to stay here, but I'm not sure if I'm over-estimating the extent of those discounts. But, you have the salary cap at $80m, and though I agree that you should plan for the worst and I have no problem with setting the cap there, realistically they'll have a bit more to spend.



If he were free, I think he'd make us a better team, but obviously he isn't, and I think too many people are focusing on the actual value of these players instead of each team's needs. Sergachev is not as good as Karlsson, but he's also cheaper than Karlsson, a lot younger, and has potential to reach that level at some point, so I'd be cautious before trading him. He's certainly not as proven as Karlsson and may never reach that level, so maybe that's worth it is if you can keep Foote, Gourde, Point, Vasilevskiy, etc. and still avoid completely destroying the prospect pool. Otherwise, we can win a Cup without Karlsson. I also think that Faulk from the Hurricanes may be a cheaper option if Yzerman doesn't want to stand pat.

Yes, if Karlsson hits free agency then maybe things change, but as it stands now I don;t think an EK trade is in their best interest. They can make it work, but it has a lot of risk. A potential trade is Sergachev, Raddysh and picks, and like you said, Sergachev is looking to be a stud, and as of next season would make at least 9 million less than EK (and is he 9M worse than him, probably not.). Then there is Raddysh, and who knows what he could turn into. Plus the picks, and this is not even to mentio n outting your team into cap hell in the coming years.

If McDonagh didn't get his extnesion for 6.75M (which I think is a good deal to be honest), then maybe there is room for EK. But yes, a cup for TB is definitely possible, if not probable with their current roster (and for years to come).

Faulk would be an interesting option, because he is much cheaper, and has two years left (unlikely to be extended afterwards I would think), and you can hold onto Sergachev on the back end. What do you think a trade for Faulk would look like? Here is my trade for him:

Raddysh
2019 3rd
2019 6th

Faulk
2019 5th

Raddysh is exactly what Carolina would want (aside from not being a center), but he is a young, inexpensive forward to add to their forward core (with Skinner on his way out), and Faulk is the odd man out as it is, and he is definitely on the trade market. I think this one goes through, Carolina may want a little bit more for him (perhaps ditch their pick in the trade and sweeten the deal just a touch on the TB side, but I think this is a solid deal for both teams. Trades from a position of strength on both sides (TB with forwards, CAR with D). Let me know what you think.

If they can dump Callahan and/or Killorn to make space (through the trades you proposed originally), I think the Lightning definitely accept. It seems pretty fair for Carolina as well. I've seen Tyler Johnson for Faulk proposed before, but that would obviously involve Tyler Johnson waiving his NTC to go to Carolina, and he might not. Maybe they'd want you to replace one of the picks with Volkov or Stephens, though, just to get them a center, though. Overall I think that's more reasonable than Karlsson.

@I_Know_Nothing_About_Hockey_Or_Any_Sport2 How do you know all this? You don't know anything about hockey or any other sport.

Johnson for Faulk would be interesting, I am actually unsure who wins that trade (one for one). I would think Carolina does, as they get a 2nd line center who is at a good cap hit for 6 years, and Faulk did have a bit of a down year. If I was TB I would not do that trade (and as you said, Johnson would probably not waive his NTC to go there) because I would want to keep my top 6 together (unless I absolutely can't), so trading a non-roster player in Raddysh with picks and maybe another prospect like you suggested would definitely be the preferable route imo.

I think TB with Faulk is an overall better team than TB with Karlsson, but Karlsson is a hell of a player, and him with Hedman is probably the best D pair in hockey by a mile. That being said, the complications that come with Karlsson are too much, and Faulk is on a much better deal, with the perfect length, as when it expires you have Cal Foote who should be ready for a top 4 (maybe top 2 role), and sergachev staying means he is in the top 4 as well, leaving the bottom pair for Koekkoek, Stralman, Girardi (Maybe?) and Dotchin.

This has inspired me to make a mock team with Faulk (I have too much time right now, and a strange addiction to TB's salary payroll).