Tampa Bay Lightning: Grading the Erik Cernak extension as Bolts lock up another piece

Grading Jan Rutta’s Deal

We’ll start by quickly assessing the two-year, $2,600,000 contract handed out to Jan Rutta that will carry an AAV of $1.3 million through the 2020-21 season.

Acquired in a trade from the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 11, 2019, Rutta has been more of a depth player for the Tampa Bay Lightning.

He has skated in 47 regular season games with the Lightning, putting up one goal and eight assists for a total of nine points, including one goal and six assists for seven points in 33 regular season games in 2019-20 with a plus / minus rating of +6.

Rutta also skated in five postseason games for the Lightning in 2019-20, recording one assist while averaging 17:47 of ATOI and, at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, he’s another big body on that backend for Tampa.

Also a right shot, of which there are not many on that Lightning defense, Rutta is a useful role player and he will be even more important in 2020-21 in what will be a shortened 56-game regular season.

He could either start the year on the roster or with the Taxi Squad, but the 30-year-old is a useful option to have should injuries arise at any point during the season.

Granted, $1.3 million per year for two years may be a little high for a player who is probably a solid bottom-pairing defenseman at best, and it is a deal that may complicate things further for Tampa Bay as we will cover now.

Final Grade: C-

Tampa in Cap Hell

Now, the Tampa Bay Lightning were in salary cap hell before tonight’s transactions anyway, but extending both Erik Cernak and Jan Rutta complicates things further.

According to CapFriendly, the Lightning now have a projected cap hit of $87,654,166, although teams can go over the cap by 10 percent during the offseason.

However, they still need to re-sign top RFA forward Anthony Cirelli, as well as minor-league forwards Mathieu Joseph and Alexander Volkov and defenseman Dominik Masin.

Now currently $6.15 million above the flat cap of $81.5 million, the Lightning will need to make some moves before re-signing the likes of Cirelli while they will also need to be cap compliant by Training Camp, which opens on Jan. 3, 2021.

So, time is of the essence for GM Julien BriseBois and he will have to get creative in order to make things work, while moving forward Tyler Johnson‘s albatross of a $35 million contract will remain a pressing priority.

However, there is a potential out-of-the-box solution in that reports are indicating that star forward Nikita Kucherov is battling a hip injury and could miss significant time in 2020-21.

Should Kucherov miss time and even require surgery, the Lightning could place their offensive juggernaut and his $9.5 million AAV on LTIR (Long-Term Injured Reserve), which would ultimately solve all of Tampa Bay’s cap headlines in one foul swoop.

Of course, they would much rather have their stud forward on the ice but it is a situation to keep an eye on when it comes to the cap, plus the Lightning could then get a fully-healthy and recharged Kucherov back for the postseason which would spell bad news for the rest of the league.

Placing Kucherov on LTIR would also mean that the Tampa Bay Lightning wouldn’t have to rush to trade Tyler Johnson or Alex Killorn, so their biggest curse could turn out to be somewhat of a blessing in disguise when it comes to helping ease their cap troubles.