Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

The Stanley Cup Window For The Tampa Bay Lightning

05/11/2018 at 8:33am EDT

from Michael Traikos of the National Post,

Winning the Stanley Cup this year is obviously a priority for the Tampa Bay Lightning. But it isn’t a necessity.

Despite going all-in at the trade deadline and acquiring defenceman Ryan McDonagh and forward J.T. Miller from the New York Rangers for a package of prospects and draft picks, the team’s window of opportunity extends beyond this year.

That’s because with the exception of fourth-line forward Chris Kunitz and third-pairing defenceman Andrej Sustr, most of the players on the roster today will be back for next season. After that, it gets a lot dicier.

McDonagh’s and Miller’s contracts both expire at the end of 2018-19. That’s the same time when Nikita Kucherov will be looking for a significant raise from his US$4.7-million contract, while forwards Brayden Point and Yanni Gourde, and defencemen Anton Stralman, Braydon Coburn and Dan Girardi become free agents.

continued

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About Kukla's Korner Hockey

Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

From breaking news to in-depth stories around the league, KK Hockey is updated with fresh stories all day long and will bring you the latest news as quickly as possible.

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