TAMPA, Fla. – Less than 48 hours after the Lightning’s season came to an end in Sunrise, general manager Julien BriseBois spoke to the media about the only topic most anybody cared about: re-signing Steven Stamkos.
“The aim is for him to continue to play on a contending Tampa Bay Lightning team going forward,” said BriseBois. “It is obviously a priority to see if we can get this done. I am very hopeful.”
Moves made Saturday seem to point in the direction of keeping the captain in Tampa. Actually, bringing defenseman Ryan McDonagh back to Amalie Arena last month seemed to be a signal that the Lightning were making a run for another title. Now.
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Bringing back a member of a core that won two Stanley Cups seemingly would not make the least bit of sense if the face of the franchise was not going to be retained.
On Saturday, the Lightning dealt Mikhail Sergachev and Tanner Jeannot while freeing up more than $11 million in cap space.
The 26-year-old Sergachev, who signed an eight-year extension in July 2022 with a cap hit of $8.5 million through the end of the term in 2030-31, was sent to Utah (formerly Arizona) for 24-year-old blueliner J.J. Moser and 20-year-old forward Connor Geekie.
Moser played 80 games for the Coyotes last season (26 points), and Geekie, selected in the 11th round by Arizona in 2022, had 43 goals and 99 points playing for two teams in the Western Hockey League. The Lightning also received a seventh-round pick in this weekend’s draft and a fourth-rounder next year.
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Jeannot was sent to Los Angeles in return for a fourth-round pick in this weekend’s draft and a second-rounder next year. His cap hit was $2.665 million.
Jeannot was acquired at the 2023 trade deadline for five draft picks, including a 2025 first-rounder and a 2024 second-rounder and defenseman Cal Foote. Hindered by injuries in his brief tenure with the Bolts, Jeannot is coming off a season in which he played 55 games and had seven goals and 14 points.
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