Three Key Offseason Storylines To Follow With The Tampa Bay Lightning
By Jim Lynch
1. Who should be re-signed and who will the Tampa Bay Lightning let walk?
The Lightning made some news last week when they re-signed defensemen Sean Day to a two-year deal. He will not be the last extension the Lightning hand out this offseason though, especially with some big names still needing new contracts.
The Lightning have Ross Colton, Tanner Jeannot, Pierre-Édouard, Alex Killorn, Corey Perry and Brian Elliott currently without contracts for next season. Only Colton and Jeannot are RFA eligible so there is no guarantee that the Lightning will be bringing back much of this group next season.
There is very little cap space for the Lightning to operate this offseason either. With the players mentioned above I think the biggest name has to be Alex Killorn. He has been with the team for so long and is coming off one of his best seasons. Killorn has been with the team since getting drafted in the third round of the 2007 NHL draft. Losing him because of salary cap restraints would really hurt, so hopefully the team can work out a deal to keep him in Tampa Bay.
Additionally the Lightning traded a lot of assets to land Tanner Jeannot this past season. He is currently without a contract for next season, and you have to imagine that Julien BriseBois will want to keep him around after the price he had to pay to add him to their roster.