Tampa Bay Lightning clearing cap space to make a run for top UFA

Day 1 of the NHL Draft didn't offer too many fireworks outside of a few draft picks being moved around. However, Day 2 has been a completely different story and the Tampa Bay Lightning have headlined the day with a flurry of moves as they traded Mikhail Sergachev to Utah for a plethora of picks while also sending Tanner Jeannot to the Los Angeles Kings for draft capital.

The most important piece of information was that no salary was retained. Tampa Bay effectively cleared out $11.165 million, acquired two 2025 second round picks, a 4th and a 7th rounder at this year's draft, Connor Geekie and J.J. Moser, and on top of it all they now have $16.5 million in projected cap space ahead of Monday's free agency.

With that much money to play with, they could look to bring back Steven Stamkos into the fold. However, insiders like Elliotte Friedman believe the Lightning are looking to make a splash for this summer's top UFA in Jake Guentzel.

Friedman reported that Guentzel asked for an 8-year deal worth $8 million per season. Carolina agreed to talk about the framework of that deal, but Guentzel hasn't agreed to anything yet and all signs are pointing to him hitting the open market.

The Hurricanes themselves are in a tough situation with Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, Brett Pesce, and Brady Skjei all expected to walk into unrestricted free agency while they also need to find deals for RFAs in Seth Jarvis, Martin Necas, and Jack Drury.

The Lightning are expected to be very aggressive in pursuit of Guentzel, who should fit their style of offense like a glove. Over his 8-year career, Guentzel has 227 goals and 491 points in 520 games, including a career-high of 40 goals and 84 points in 2021-22. In the post-season, he has added 38 goals and 67 points in 69 games, which includes a Stanley Cup run where he scored 13 goals and 21 points as a 22-year-old.

There is a world where the Lightning can bring back Stamkos and add Guentzel into the fold, but it seems like they will prioritize the latter over the former for the time being considering he will be a hot commodity ahead of Monday's free agent window opening.

Source for Jake Guentzel's statistics: Hockey-Reference
Jake Guentzel stats and bio