from Joe Smith of Lightning Strikes at the Tampa Bay Times,

It's not that easy. First of all, the market is not nearly the same as it was last summer, not with the salary cap staying relatively flat this season (up from $69 to $71.4 million). And with the Canadian dollar dropping 23-percent since Valentine's Day in 2013 (now trading around 75 cents), there's a lot of uncertainty on what the cap will be like in coming years.

"It's really difficult right now to plan with this cap crunch," said NHL Network analyst Craig Button, a former Flames general manager.

That's the tough task ahead for Yzerman, who'd love to lock up Stamkos while also preserving the core of what he hopes will be a perennial Stanley Cup contending team. Even the Blackhawks, a model franchise with three Cups in five years, lost key players Brandon Saad, Patrick Sharp and Johnny Oduya this offseason, not being able to afford them all. And, like most strong teams, Yzerman's group will only get more expensive in coming years. Forwards Alex Killorn ($2.5 million cap hit this season) and Nikita Kucherov ($711,000) will be restricted free agents next summer. Braydon Coburn's $4.5 million hit could come off the books then, as will Mattias Ohlund, who continues to be on long-term injured reserve. But if Stamkos' cap hit, let's say, increases $3 million per year (to the Toews and Kane $10.5 million annual average), there's not a lot of wiggle room, especially with Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Victor Hedman among those needing new deals (and likely big raises) in two years.

"For the Lightning, $1 million is very significant," Button said.

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