TAMPA — Basic supervisor Julien BriseBois wasted no time using the Lightning’s freshly acquired wage cap house. And in his purchasing spree, he jumped the road Sunday in touchdown one of many prime pending unrestricted free brokers to make subsequent season’s workforce a stronger Stanley Cup contender.
A day after they traded away defensemen Mikhail Sergachev to Utah and all however stated goodbye to face of the franchise Steven Stamkos, the Lightning acquired the rights to wing Jake Guentzel of the Hurricanes. This transfer provides the Lightning unique negotiating rights to make a cope with Grentzel forward of Monday’s midday begin of free company.
In alternate for Guentzel, the Lightning gave up a third-round choose within the 2025 draft.
Guentzel, 29, appears to be an ideal match for the Lightning, a participant who supplied scoring for years in Pittsburgh, taking part in with elite expertise in a prime line with Sidney Crosby and solely improved his inventory with a fabulous playoff run after shifting to Carolina on the commerce deadline. He might slide in on the left wing on both of the Lightning’s prime two strains, basically changing Stamkos.
Guentzel had 30 targets and 77 factors in 67 video games final season with Pittsburgh and Carolina. He recorded 25 of these factors in 17 video games as soon as he got here to the Hurricanes.
Twenty-five of Guentzel’s 30 targets got here in 5-on-5 play, which might enhance a Lightning workforce that leaned on its energy play an excessive amount of final season.
Among the many issues that stand out most about Guentzel is the plus-25 ratio, which might give the Lightning the two-way ahead that BriseBois indicated he wanted to make them a greater workforce defensively.
Guentzel received a Stanley Cup as a rookie with the Penguins in 2016-17, and has been an achieved postseason performer, scoring 38 targets and 67 factors in 69 Stanley Cup playoff video games. He scored 4 even-strength targets and 9 factors in 11 playoff video games with Carolina.
Going into free company, Guentzel was slated to be one of many prime prizes in the marketplace. Carolina wished to maintain him, and different contenders like Vancouver had been circling. Carolina reportedly provided him an eight-year, $64 million deal to remain.
After buying his rights, the Lightning can now signal him to a most seven-year deal as a result of he wasn’t on their reserve checklist on the commerce deadline.
The Lightning presumably would have had a sign from Guentzel’s agent that he’d be prepared to signal if they’re buying and selling for his rights a day earlier than the market opens, particularly after dealing away a third-round choose.
Lately, the Lightning have been on the alternative finish of those offers, buying and selling away the rights to gamers like Barclay Goodrow and Corey Perry to web seventh-round picks once they couldn’t retain the gamers resulting from an absence of cap house.
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However after buying and selling Sergachev and ahead Tanner Jeannot on Saturday, the Lightning have $16.5 million in cap house — the went into Saturday with simply $5.335 million — opening the door for BriseBois to pursue a giant fish like Guentzel, particularly after the GM didn’t enhance his current provide to Stamkos following the trades.
“I count on that we’re going to be focusing (the cap house) on our ahead group,” BriseBois stated Saturday night. “Now, is that one participant getting most of that cap house, is it two gamers splitting it up, three gamers splitting it up? It’s too early to inform at this level. On the identical time, there’s additionally some commerce risk that … simply popped up that I believe we have to discover and perhaps that’s the avenue we’re going to go down or it is perhaps a mix.”
And now an offseason that two months in the past appeared to deal with re-signing Stamkos and increasing defenseman Victor Hedman has gone in a wholly totally different course.
The Lightning have been among the many most energetic groups going into free company. Up to now two days, they’ve not solely acquired Guentzel’s rights, however from Utah acquired 24-year-old top-four defenseman J.J. Moser to assist fill Sergachev’s minutes, a former No. 11 general choose who instantly turns into the group’s prime prospect in ahead Conor Geekie, plus added 4 draft picks to their stock. An extension continues to be potential for Hedman, who can signal Monday on the earliest.
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