Tampa Bay Lightning
| Available | Age | 17/18 | Automatically Exempt |
| F Steven Stamkos (NMC) | 26 | $8.5M | F Adam Erne |
| F Ryan Callahan (NMC) | 31 | $5.8M | F Mitchell Stephens |
| F Valtteri Filppula (NMC) | 32 | $5.0M | F Matthew Peca |
| F Nikita Kucherov | 23 | $4.767M | F Anthony Cirelli |
| F Alex Killorn | 27 | $4.45M | F Dennis Yan |
| F Tyler Johnson | 26 | RFA | F Brian Hart |
| F Ondrej Palat | 25 | RFA | F Jonne Tammela |
| F Brian Boyle | 31 | UFA | F Brayden Point |
| F Vladislav Namestnikov | 23 | $1.938M | F Cameron Darcy |
| F Erik Condra | 30 | $1.25M | F Joel Vermin |
| F J.T. Brown | 26 | $1.25M | |
| F Jonathan Drouin | 21 | RFA | D Dominik Masin |
| F Cedric Paquette | 23 | $813K | D Ben Thomas |
| F Henri Ikonen | 22 | RFA | D Daniel Walcott |
| F Gabriel Dumont | 26 | RFA | |
| F Tye McGinn | 26 | RFA | G Adam Wilcox |
| F Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond | 31 | UFA | |
| F Michael Bournival | 24 | RFA | |
| F Mike Halmo | 25 | RFA | |
| F Cory Conacher | 26 | UFA | |
| F Yanni Gourde | 24 | RFA | |
| F Jeremy Morin | 25 | RFA | |
| F Tanner Richard | 23 | RFA | |
| D Jason Garrison | 31 | $4.6M | |
| D Anton Stralman | 30 | $4.5M | |
| D Victor Hedman | 25 | $7.875M | |
| D Braydon Coburn | 31 | $3.7M | |
| D Andrej Sustr | 25 | RFA | |
| D Slater Koekkoek | 22 | RFA | |
| D Dylan Blujus | 22 | RFA | |
| D Nikita Nesterov | 23 | RFA | |
| D Jake Dotchin | 22 | RFA | |
| D Luke Witkowski | 26 | UFA | |
| D Matt Taormina | 30 | UFA | |
| G Ben Bishop | 29 | UFA | |
| G Andrei Vasilevskiy | 22 | $3.5M | |
| G Kristers Gudlevskis | 24 | RFA |
| Ryan | Matt | Suraj |
| 7F – 3D – 1G | 7F – 3D – 1G | 7F – 3D – 1G |
| F Steven Stamkos (NMC) | F Steven Stamkos (NMC) | F Steven Stamkos (NMC) |
| F Ryan Callahan (NMC) | F Ryan Callahan (NMC) | F Ryan Callahan (NMC) |
| F Valtteri Filppula (NMC) | F Valtteri Filppula (NMC) | F Valtteri Filppula (NMC) |
| F Nikita Kucherov | F Nikita Kucherov | F Nikita Kucherov |
| F Tyler Johnson | F Tyler Johnson | F Tyler Johnson |
| F Ondrej Palat | F Ondrej Palat | F Ondrej Palat |
| F Jonathan Drouin | F Jonathan Drouin | F Jonathan Drouin |
| D Victor Hedman | D Victor Hedman | D Victor Hedman |
| D Andrej Sustr | D Andrej Sustr | D Nikita Nesterov |
| D Nikita Nesterov | D Slater Koekkoek | D Andrej Sustr |
| G Andrei Vasilevskiy | G Andrei Vasilevskiy | G Andrei Vasilevskiy |
Even though they’re one of the deepest teams that promise to hand Las Vegas a top selection, the Lightning’s protection list is arguably the easiest to determine. Their seven forward spots are locked in, which leaves debate for maybe one or two spots on the back end.
Ben Bishop will be omitted until he finds a new home. It’s unclear if he’ll stick around the entire year or not, but at some point, he will be moved. The 22-year-old Andrei Vasilevskiy is the logical save between the pipes.
As mentioned, the forward spots are all accounted for. Between NMC’s for Stamkos, Callahan, and Filppula, it leaves just enough room to protect Kucherov, Johnson, Palat, and Drouin. Little can be done to save the likes of Alex Killorn, Vladislav Namestnikov, or J.T. Brown.
Hedman is a lock on the back end obviously. The only real debate is the last two d-slots. I’m assuming Steve Yzerman might favor the likes of Sustr and Nesterov over veterans Stralman, Garrison, and Coburn. – Ryan Ritchie