Three players the Lightning will have a hard time replacing
The Tampa Bay Lightning know the cost of winning in the NHL.
Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2020, the Tampa Bay Lightning have had to shift their team around year by year to stay competitive and stay under the salary cap. It has worked out for them as they followed their 2020 championship with another in 2021 and then a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2022.
Each season the team has had to shift out different key players in order to stay under the salary cap and keep the winning going. During the past few seasons, the team has said goodbye to players like Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman, Barclay Goodrow and Tyler Johnson to name a few.
This offseason has seen similar results with a lot of players being moved out to make room for the signings of guys like Nicholas Paul and Mikhail Sergachev to name a few.
With the 2021-22 season in the books, it is hard not to look back on things and feel disappointed on the outcome for the Lightning. They were just two wins away from winning their third straight Stanley Cup.
Getting back there is going to be even tougher, especially considering some of the players the team said goodbye to this offseason. Let’s go over three players the Lightning are going to have a hard time replacing.
Jan Rutta
Jan Rutta spent the past three and a half seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning. After being traded from the Chicago Blackhawks, Rutta worked out in a Lightning uniform because of his size and ability to defend in his own end.
At times, Rutta spent time paired with Victor Hedman on the top pairing for the Lightning. This was an instrumental move to allow the Lightning to spread out their talent on the blue line.
This season the team will be without Rutta who signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Rutta signed a three-year contract worth 2.75 million annually which was money that the Lightning were not going to be able to offer to Rutta due to their cap constraints.
While seeing Jan Rutta go might not be as hard as some of the past goodbyes the Lightning have had to make, it still will be tough to replace someone the team had so much success with.
In his four postseasons with the Lightning Rutta played in 49 games scoring three goals and adding eight assists during that time. His best run came in 2021 when he registered 25 hits and had 16 blocked shots.
Ryan McDonagh
Ryan McDonagh has been a leader within the Tampa Bay Lightning from the minute he was traded there from the New York Rangers. He has been with the team since the 2017-18 season and has been a critical voice for the team.
McDonagh might not have won a Conn Smythe or been praised as the face of the team during their two championships, but it is clear that there are no championships for the Lightning without McDonagh on the roster doing his job.
The Lightning are in a tough spot against the salary cap. Something had to give for them to compete in 2023 and that ultimately came down to trading McDonagh according to general manager Julien BriseBois.
During the past three playoff runs, McDonagh has played in 68 games averaging 23:10 minutes of ice time a night. he has 18 points as well as 201 hits and 334 blocked shots.
Mikhail Sergachev is expected to step up to the plate and be the new key piece to a shut down line with Cal Foote, but it definitely is not going to be easy for this team to replace McDonagh without a few hiccups along the way.
Ondrej Palat
After spending his entire ten year career with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Ondrej Palat finds himself on a new team in 2022. The Lightning had limited cap space and new they were going to have to say goodbye to some players in order to keep the championship group together.
One player that meant saying goodbye to was Palat who was great as a secondary scorer for this team. Palat signed a five year deal with the New Jersey Devils on July 14, 2022. The deal is worth 30 million and gives him 6 million a season.
When you think of the stars on the Lightning your mind might automatically go to Hedman, Stamkos, Kucherov and Point, however Palat did his best to get his name in the discussion the past few seasons scoring clutch goals like the one below:
Is there anyone more clutch than Ondrej Palat? pic.twitter.com/Tj6ccia5EC
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) June 25, 2022
During the past three playoff runs for the Lightning, Palat has 27 goals and 52 points through 71 games. The amazing run of hockey for this team would not have happened without Palat on the team playing a big role in 2020 when Stamkos was out of the lineup with an injury.
When this team has needed players to step up, Palat has done so every time. Now it will be interesting to see who on the Lightning will do their best to fill this hole in the lineup.