How the Tampa Bay Lightning Can Best Use Remaining Cap Space – The Hockey Writers – Tampa Bay Lightning

The Tampa Bay Lightning are tasked with assembling a competitive team for the upcoming 2026-27 season. In what feels like a tale as old as time, they’re looking to maximize the remaining cap space that they have.

According to MoneyPuck, they have $3,228,334 remaining on as of Tuesday, July 14. There isn’t much left to work with, and the job still isn’t done.

Sign a Defenseman or Center

The Lightning should see who is left in the bargain bin and make a go at adding some more depth to the roster. Adding John Carlson in free agency ensured they had a right-shot defenseman, but the position overall could still use some help.

Meanwhile, the issues at center are still pretty prevalent. Overall, trading Nick Paul to the Toronto Maple Leafs was a positive move. That being said, it didn’t help the center depth. He had a 53% faceoff percentage (FO%), and he would likely have been their third-line centre.

Yanni Gourde is currently projected to be their third-line centre, and Dominic James is projected to be their fourth-line centre. It makes sense since neither of their additions to the offense, Ilya Mikheyev and Jeffery Viel, really take faceoffs or succeed in the rare times they do.

Bring Prospects Into Fray

Here, the Lightning have a chance to bring in what could be key members of the future without much strain on the salary cap. Some prospects could also help with some key needs.

Sam O’Reilly, who would come with a cap hit of just $936,056, could provide the team with a right-shot forward. He also had a 58% faceoff percentage in juniors last season, showing he could specifically help the Lightning at the dot. The expectation is that he is competing for a spot on opening night, and he was in Tampa for developmental camp.

Benjamin Rautiainen is another prospect who is confirmed to be competing to play for the Lightning on opening night Since he can’t help at center as he rarely takes faceoffs, that could hurt his chances since he has to beat out a winger, a much deeper position on the team. His size is also considered an issue.

If he finds a way to prevail, the Lightning have an addition to the roster at a cap hit of $1.0075 million. It’s not a reason to bring him up. If he’s not ready, so be it, but having him on the roster at the low cap hit and seeing him be effective could do wonders.

Add (and Move Cap) in a Trade

If the Lightning have been excelling at anything, it’s been the ability to shuffle players on and off the books via trades. This normally happens at the trade deadline, but why not see an offseason splash if possible?

There was the potential of seeing Zach Werenski in a Lightning sweater before he made peace with the Columbus Blue Jackets. That likely would have required seeing a major contract exit.

Making a trade would provide the Lightning with an opportunity to adjust the roster to how they see fit. They don’t have to make a major move. It could just be someone with a slightly larger cap hit, and a smaller contract is moved to make room.

This is a total spitball example that doesn’t take into account whether it’s a move that actually makes sense. I’m even going to be outlandish on purpose for the sake of having some fun. Let’s say the Lightning take a swing for Alex Ovechkin, whose new cap hit is $4.25 million, and the Washington Capitals happen to be all ears.

Currently, the Lightning don’t have enough cap space, but they wouldn’t have to move much. Let’s say they send over Conor Geekie and Gage Goncalves. Nothing else is involved in the deal. From a pure cap perspective, it works. It would clear up about $2 million in cap to bring him, and they’d even still have room for O’Reilly if they choose to add him.

Is this a move that would ever happen? Only if you add a mode in NHL 26 for forced trades. Regardless, it’s an example of how the current cap space could be used to shape the roster.

There are plenty of ways the Lightning could make the best use of their cap space. It’s possible they don’t use it at all, but that feels unlikely. We’ll see how they set the stage for the upcoming season. Knowing general manager Julien BriseBois, there could always be something up his sleeve.