from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

The added degree of difficulty here: Several of the Lightning’s key personnel are inked to deals with no-move or no-trade clauses.

The no-moves include Steven Stamkos and Conn Smythe winner Victor Hedman. No issue, really. BriseBois wouldn’t think to deal either.

Star winger Nikita Kucherov, who banked 27 assists in the Cup run, sees his no-move clause kick in Friday, the day that officially marks the new season. Until then, BriseBois could deal him. But again, moot point. Going nowhere. But man, how the Rangers would love to have him riding the wing opposite fellow Russian star Artemi Panarin. Almost as much as NBC would love it.

The real conundrum for BriseBois rests in the likes of Ondrej Palat ($5.3 million), Yanni Gourde ($5.166 million), and Tyler Johnson ($5 million). Arguably, they are all overpaid. But beyond price, they also have no-trade clauses. To get any of them gone, BriseBois first has to sell them to pack bags. Not an easy sales pitch to make just days after they all clinched their first Cup.

The most likely one to go is ex-Harvard forward Alex Killorn, a slight step down on the payroll at $4.45 million for each of the next three seasons. Killorn, 31, will entice many teams at that pay point, and his contract only prohibits him from being traded to 16 teams (a list he had to submit July 1, according to Cap Friendly).

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