TB GM Julien BriseBois hits the phones immediately after winning the Stanley Cup

Players with the Tampa Bay Lightning are likely still partying after winning the Stanley Cup this week, but for the team's general manager, there's no time to dwell on the win. The Lightning have restricted free agents to sign and the only way to do it is by shedding salary elsewhere.

"[Julien] BriseBois did not get a day off unlike a lot of his players after the Stanley Cup," said Pierre LeBrun on TSN's Insider Trading, "Talking to people around the league, BriseBois is already on the phone. He has to shed about $10 million of cap space here over the next few weeks and it's not going to be easy. Certainly there are some players you look at that are obvious targets."

LeBrun names Tyler Johnson, who has four years left at $5 million per season, and Yanni Gourde , who has five years left at $5.17 million a year.

"The problem is both those players have full no trade clauses so if they don't want to go anywhere, they won't. So this is going to be delicate by BriseBois. One thing I was told by a source today, the Lightning could surprise us here. It may not necessarily be the player that you think that ends up getting moved," added LeBrun.

The concern for BriseBois is that RFAs like Mikhail Sergachev and Anthony Cirelli could be targets for offer sheets, so he wants to get them re-signed as soon as possible. Sergachev is coming off a contract that paid him $1.74 million per season (AAV) so he will be commanding a big raise. Cerelli's salary was just under $1 million last season and he's sure to be looking for a big hike in pay as well.

Source: TSN Insider Trading

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