TAMPA — The Tampa Bay Lightning opted for stability over spectacle this offseason, replacing departed defenseman Darren Raddysh with veteran Cup champion John Carlson on a two-year, $17 million contract — a move that anchors a roster already built around nine consecutive playoff appearances and two Stanley Cup championships.
GM Julien BriseBois traded Raddysh’s rights to the Toronto Maple Leafs, who signed the 30-year-old to an eight-year deal after he posted career numbers for the Bolts last season. Rather than match that long-term commitment, BriseBois brought in Carlson, 36, from Anaheim on a shorter, controlled deal. Florida Hockey Now gave the Lightning’s offseason a B+ grade, noting the team “did not make many big swings, nor did it have to.”
The Lightning are coming off a season in which they finished second in the Atlantic Division behind Buffalo before losing in seven games to a Montreal Canadiens team that made it all the way to the Eastern Conference final. That first-round exit extended a drought dating to the 2022 Stanley Cup Final loss to the Avalanche — the last time Tampa Bay advanced past the opening round.
Beyond Carlson, BriseBois added forward Ilya Mikheyev from Chicago, forward Jeffrey Viel from Anaheim and goaltender Dennis Hildeby via trade from Toronto. Florida Hockey Now reported that Mikheyev “could turn out to be a real nice add to the bottom-6” and that Hildeby “may give Andrei Vasilevskiy a little bit of relief if needed.” The departures were significant: Nick Paul went to Toronto, Corey Perry signed with Los Angeles, Oliver Bjorkstrand left for the New York Rangers and defenseman Declan Carlile joined Pittsburgh.
The biggest unfinished business in Tampa Bay involves star forward Nikita Kucherov, who is “coming off yet another monster season and is eligible for a contract extension,” according to Florida Hockey Now. That negotiation looms over a franchise that Florida Hockey Now described as “a model team in the league” whose “solid consistency” makes the Atlantic Division “the toughest in the NHL going into the new season.”
NHL free agency opened July 1, and the division rival Florida Panthers begin their preseason Sept. 20 against the Carolina Hurricanes, with the regular-season opener set for Sept. 29 at 5 p.m. at Carolina and the Panthers’ home opener against the Minnesota Wild on Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. Panthers training camp opens in Fort Lauderdale in early-to-mid September.