Two straight Stanley Cup triumphs for the Tampa Bay Lightning are a fact. But can they do it again and “three-petera” the triumph?
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The waves of discussion are already high.
In the flawless hockey world, Lightning will be able to keep the team that won two straight Stanley Cup titles, but in reality it will hardly be so. Tampa’s successful coach Jon Cooper put his thoughts into words immediately after the 1-0 victory over Montreal in the Amalie Arena on Thursday morning, which meant 4-1 in the match series and the Stanley Cup to Tampa.
“This was the end of a very special group that held together for two years,” Cooper said. I think it was a big boost for us. Who knows what’s going on now?
There are several reasons for doubt that Tampa can defend the Cup once again. One spell is the salary cap that applies in the NHL since 2005-06: this season, Lightning, completely according to the rules, has been able to live high on the points king Nikita Kucherov been injured during the entire basic series and thus could be excluded from the payroll under the roof. In the playoffs, Kucherov was back, and then Tampa played with salary costs of $ 17 million over the allowable limit of $ 81.5 million. Tampa received a lot of criticism from other clubs and next season there are no opportunities to break through the salary cap in the same way.
Video: MTL-TBL M3: Kucherov extends Lightning line
Tampa Bay Lightning has a large and high-quality core of players with long contracts – and high salaries. Kucherov has a contract until 2027, the team captain Steven Stamkos (2024), Victor Hedman (2025) and Ryan McDonagh to 2026 and Tyler Johnson until 2024. Brayden Point has one year left on the contract. The goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevskiy is contracted until 2028. The seven players together deduct a salary cost of almost 54 million, 66 percent of the salary cap for the entire team.
Tampa will be forced to get rid of one or more players and speculation is already underway: the hill David Savard who played until Ross Colton’s winning goal in the final game against the Canadiens, is a so-called unrestricted free agent (UFA). The same goes for two of the playoffs’ most useful players, Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow. Colton is a restricted free agent (RFA). All players who have had relatively low salaries, and have sufficient hockey quality to raise them in any other club.
But even if those players choose another club, Lightning is above the salary cap. The club will have to outsource additional players, and the names it is already speculated about are players in the salary range between four and five million dollars: Ondrej Palat (5.3 million), Alex Killorn (4.45) and Yanni Gourde (5.17). Hill Ryan McDonagh has a clause in his contract that gives him the option to deny a trio, but with a salary cost of 6.75 million, it is possible that Tampa is trying to persuade McDonagh to agree to a sale.
Everyone is prepared for big changes in the team.
Video: TBL-MTL, M5: Savard finds Colton
– We know that with the NHL’s salary cap as a background, this was perhaps the last match with this special gang, said Steven Stamkos after the Stanley Cup triumph. I can not stress enough how much it motivated us. We talked about it halfway into the playoffs, we talked about it ahead of the fifth game against the Islanders (in the semifinals): let’s take advantage of this opportunity. It is not often you get the opportunity to play with such a good team as we got. We believed in it.
And they did.
But even if Tampa continues to be a strong team, they may not do it again.
Now the expansion draft is also waiting soon, when the new NHL team Seattle Kraken will select players. Tampa can protect its supremely strong core, but not all top players. Here the name Tyler Johnson is tossed around among the hockey experts: Johnson comes from Spokane which, like Seattle, is located in the state of Washington, he played junior hockey there and he has relatives and friends there. And more: he’s been playing in Tampa for nine years, and his production is starting to decline – but he’s the perfect choice for a club that wants to start building a team with the right balance.
Even at the betting agencies, Tampa is not a favorite. The companies have already started setting the odds for next season in the National Hockey League, and they are determined: no, Tampa will not win the cup a third time in a row. Lightning is among the top teams at most betting companies, but the real low odds are the Colorado Avalanche and Vegas Golden Knights with Tampa as third and the Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins in the places behind.
Video: VGK-COL, M6: Martinez plays Karlsson to goal
The highlights are the Seattle Kraken, Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabers.
Tampa comes into play with a strong team. The core with Kucherov, Stamkos, Hedman, Point and Vasilevskiy is probably the strongest in the league.
But is that enough?
“We’ll see if we can do it again,” says Jon Cooper.
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