Quote:
The reality of the situation, is that if one or more of the RFAs push for a longer term deal or a full value bridge deal, and the players with No Trade Clauses choose to exercise their rights to refuse a trade, the Lightning may be forced to trade Sergachev or Cirelli. The return for either player could be good, but the Lightning would also have less leverage with the salary cap hanging over their heads.
When dealing with a hard salary cap system, losing players you don’t want to part with (*cough* J.T. Miller *cough*) is a part of the bargain. And so it is a situation that the Lightning will have to be prepared to deal with if it comes to pass. The offer sheet compensation gives us some idea of what the compensation could look like in a trade. Below are some sample contracts that were signed by comparable players and the draft pick compensation that would be owed to the Lightning if they refused to match such an offer sheet.
3 Years, $5 million (Zach Werenski) - 1st round pick, 3rd round pick
6 years, $5.5 million (Travis Konecny) - 1st round pick, 2nd round pick, 3rd round pick
6 years, $6.75 million (Ivan Provorov) - 1st round pick, 2nd round pick, 3rd round pick
This is certainly the scenario I least want to see happen. But it is a scenario that is within the realm of possibilities and we as fans should be prepared for that possibility. It would suck to lose either Sergachev or Cirelli. Both are valuable young players that could be big parts of the Lightning’s core moving forward. But being valuable makes it harder for the team to hang on to them through this salary cap crunch.