Tyler Johnson could be the first cap casualty in Tampa
With the Tampa Bay Lightning in the midst of celebration after having achieved glory this season and winning the second Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history, pundits have wasted no time in picking apart the roster and speculating on which players will be returning next season for an opportunity to run it back with the Bolts, and which ones will be wearing a different uniform next season.
Unfortunately, with just over $5M in cap space and only 15 players signed for next season, Lightning GM Julien BriseBois has his work cut out for him during this offseason.
Obviously, with no cap flexibility, BriseBois will not be able to keep the band together next season, and will be forced to move on from some of the club's familiar faces, many of whom have no-trade/no-movement clauses in their contracts, which complicates matters for the Bolts' GM.
Per TSN's Pierre LeBrun, one of the cap casualties appears to be 30-year-old Tyler Johnson, who has 4 years remaining on his contract, carrying an AAV of $5M.
According to LeBrun, Johnson's agent has been contacted by Lightning management to discuss the possibility of a trade, which would require consent from Johnson's camp, due to a full no-trade clause being written into his contract.
While no potential suitors were named by LeBrun, it's hard to imagine that there will be a shortage of interest in the utility-man from Spokane, Washington - especially coming fresh off of a Stanley Cup win.
Surely, for Tampa, the major area of focus is on a number of restricted free agents who require contracts this offseason, including Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak and Anthony Cirelli. Moving Johnson would be just the first of several moves necessary to free up some much needed cap space to get these and about a half-dozen other deals done during this offseason. BriseBois sure has a busy few months ahead of him.
Johnson has tallied 153 goals and 339 points through 534 career NHL games. He has hit the 20-goal mark in four of his nine seasons, flirting with the 30-goal mark on two of those occasions.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Roope Hintz | - | 4 | 4 | |
| Jason Robertson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Mika Zibanejad | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Thomas Harley | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Will Cuylle | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Matt Duchene | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Warren Foegele | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vinnie Hinostroza | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Wyatt Johnston | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Matthew Knies | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Trevor Moore | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | - | 1 | |
| William Nylander | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mats Zuccarello | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Michael Anderson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| William Borgen | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Phillip Danault | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Max Domi | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 60 | 42 | 15 | 3 | 87 | |
Capitals | 59 | 38 | 13 | 8 | 84 | |
Stars | 58 | 37 | 19 | 2 | 76 | |
Golden Knights | 59 | 35 | 18 | 6 | 76 | |
Panthers | 60 | 36 | 21 | 3 | 75 | |
Maple Leafs | 58 | 36 | 20 | 2 | 74 | |
Lightning | 58 | 34 | 20 | 4 | 72 | |
Hurricanes | 59 | 34 | 21 | 4 | 72 | |
Oilers | 59 | 34 | 21 | 4 | 72 | |
Wild | 59 | 34 | 21 | 4 | 72 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||