Did the Lightning Clear Enough Space to Sign Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman
The Tampa Bay Lightning continue to show that the NHL is a business by making tough decisions. On Day 2 of the NHL Draft, the Lightning traded defenseman Mikhail Sergachev to the Utah Hockey Club and Tanner Jeannot to the Los Angeles Kings.
Lightning General Manager Julien BriseBois isn’t afraid to make tough decisions. He also shows that he will do anything to improve his team or keep the pieces in shape. He has to make another run at the Stanley Cup.
NHL Rumors: Steven Stamkos Fits Well With Lightning
No one saw the Mikhail Sergachev trade coming. However, there were reports that he wanted to announce Victor Hedman’s deal on Monday, July 1. Hedman is eligible for an extension as he enters the final year of his $7.875 million contract.
Victor Hedman’s agent Peter Wallen joins us live in the studio now @SiriusXMNHL and tells us that they know where both sides stand and will go deep into negotiations to extend the back #GoBolts handle the situation of captain Steven Stamkos.
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) June 28, 2024
Over the next seven seasons, the Lightning General Manager cleared $8.5 million in cap space. He was also able to remove Jeannot’s salary from the books. Jeannot had a year left at $2.665 million.
The Lightning stopped pulling for Jeannot a few years ago, and it didn’t work out for him or the Lightning. Now, BriseBois is coming out of a bad contract.
NHL Rumors: Tick-Tock Steven Stamkos and Lightning – Teams Waiting
In addition to Hedman, the Tampa Bay Lightning are trying to re-sign Steven Stamkos. There are reports that he will market on July 1 because Nyazi’s proposal was not enough.
I #TBLightning he didn’t keep any salary for Mikhail Sergachev, making much-needed cap space with Victor Hedman’s extension expected to come next week and, perhaps, another run to extend Steven Stamkos before he hits the open market.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) June 29, 2024
While both sides continue to work on an agreement, there is still work to be done.
Julien BriseBois met with Steven Stamkos’ agent yesterday. They have not reached an agreement yet but they are still hopeful that an agreement will be reached.
“It is clear that if we had reached an agreement at this time, we would have been happy to send a press release announcing that…
– Diandra Loux (@Diandra_loux) June 28, 2024
Remember that the Lightning also acquired Ryan McDonagh from the Nashville Predators and took his $6.75 million salary over the next two seasons. So, to keep Stamkos and Hedman, the players had to come out.
Jeannot and Conor Sheary were candidates, but no one saw Sergachev coming. Now, the Lightning have $16.5 million in cap space.
Currently the #GoBolts they were about 16.5M in cap area.
– Diandra Loux (@Diandra_loux) June 29, 2024
It will be interesting to see what happens to Steven Stamkos and the Lightning. This may come down to the phone. He leads BriseBois, followed by Hedman.
