What now for Anthony Cirelli and the Tampa Bay Lightning?
It has been a busy couple of days for the Tampa Bay Lightning who have re-signed four players, but there is no concrete update when it comes to their star RFA in Anthony Cirelli.
Just a day after the Lightning handed new deals to defensemen Erik Cernak and Jan Rutta – and we graded those deals here – they announced today that they had signed RFA forwards Mathieu Joseph and Alexander Volkov to new contracts.
We have re-signed Mathieu Joseph to a two-year, one-way contract worth $737,500 AAV!
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 23, 2020
📝: https://t.co/JJzYGt0EEV pic.twitter.com/Diq8sic9eO
Joseph signed a two-year, $1,475,000 with an AAV of $737,000 and Volkov agreed terms on a one-year, $700,000 contract.
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Both players are likely to be depth options for Tampa Bay and both Joseph and Volkov will battle for roster spots in the bottom-six, although a golden opportunity has now presented itself with Nikita Kucherov set to miss the entire 2020-21 regular season with a hip injury.
Anyway, we won’t spend too much more time on Joseph and Volkov given that they are minor deals in the grand scheme of things but, instead, we want to explore what this means for Anthony Cirelli.
Currently a Restricted Free Agent, Cirelli is arguably the second most talented unsigned player currently out there behind New York Islanders star Mathew Barzal, and the 23-year-old is an important cog in this well-oiled Tampa Bay winning machine.
Now, there is positive news with Joe Smith of The Athletic reporting earlier today that there have been “active” discussions between Cirelli and the Tampa Bay hierarchy, and it seems that a breakthrough in talks could be close.
#tblightning BriseBois said they have a framework for a deal with Anthony Cirelli. BriseBois said with Kucherov going on LTIR, and what they've signed everyone for, they are in position to be cap compliant by opening night.
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithNHL) December 23, 2020
After all, the Lightning may be handed some help in their bid to get cap compliant with General Manager Julien BriseBois telling the local media today that star forward Nikita Kucherov will need hip surgery and will miss the entire 2020-21 regular season.
GM Julien BriseBois on Nikita Kucherov during today’s availability: “Unfortunately, [he] has a hip injury that will require surgery.... that means he will not be available to play this upcoming regular season.”
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) December 23, 2020
As a result, having Kucherov’s $9.5 million AAV on LTIR will dig Tampa Bay out of a massive hole and would ensure that they are under the $81.5 million salary cap by Opening Night on Jan. 13, 2021 while having the room to re-sign Cirelli and without dealing away any pieces.
While losing Kucherov for a chunk of the regular season is going to hurt, the Lightning have enough to navigate a 56-game season without their offensive juggernaut, while they would get their Russian superstar back and refreshed in time for the Stanley Playoffs.
Also, the Tampa Bay Lightning are currently $6 million plus over the cap and, while having Kucherov will now solve that, they could make other moves in order to ensure they are cap compliant come opening night.
Tampa’s main priority now will be to re-sign Cirelli who has emerged as one of the most talented two-way centers in the National Hockey League, even drawing some early comparisons to Boston Bruins pivot Patrice Bergeron.
Cirelli has also established himself as Tampa Bay’s No. 2 center behind Brayden Point, with the dynamic duo forming a deadly one-two punch down the middle.
Since being drafted with the 72nd overall pick in the Third Round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Cirelli has developed rapidly and he looks set to be a dominant two-way forward who will be a regular Selke Trophy contender for years to come.
He truly broke out in 2019-20 with 44 points (16 G, 28 A) in 68 regular season games with a plus / minus rating of +28, while recording 47 blocked shots, 89 hits and 53 Takeaways with 18:28 of ATOI.
As a result, Cirelli finished fourth in Selke Trophy voting in 2019-20, and he also delivered on the biggest stage after putting up nine points (3 G, 6 A) with one game-winner and 99 hits in 25 postseason games while averaging 20:08 minutes of ice time per game.
In total, Cirelli has 94 points (40 G, 54 A) in 168 career regular season games for the Tampa Bay Lightning, in addition to 14 points (6 G, 8 A) in 46 Stanley Cup Playoffs games.
It is likely that Anthony Cirelli could get a deal with an AAV in the region of $5-$6 million and, with Nikita Kucherov now heading to the LTIR, expect that extension to happen sooner rather than later with the Tampa Bay Lightning finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to their salary cap trouble.