NHL Rumours: Tampa Bay Lightning Forward May Hit Market

It’s time for another edition of NHL rumours to start the week. The Stanley Cup Playoffs are starting soon, but some teams are already thinking of the off-season. This is happening despite certain teams in the tournament for Lord Stanley’s chalice. The Tampa Bay Lightning have made things work under the cap for a number of years. However, a new Alex Killorn contract may not be possible for the Lightning in the off-season. This edition of NHL rumours takes a look at that.

All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.

NHL Rumours

Alex Killorn Contract May Be Tough for Tampa

Rumour: The latest edition of TSN’s Insider Trading to a look at the difficulty of the Bolts bringing back Killorn next season. Pierre LeBrun said the Halifax, Nova Scotia native is likely to hit the open market. This is similar to the situation the Lightning faced with Ondrej Palat last off-season. Tampa Bay has always done a tight dance with the salary cap and Killorn may be a casualty like Palat was.

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The Lightning have three major extensions coming into place with Erik Cernak, Mikhail Sergachev and Anthony Cirelli. Tampa has been able to somewhat skate by with the State of Florida having no sales tax. However, the salary cap is only expected to go up by $1 million like the last couple of years. It’s said general manager Julien BriseBois would have to clear out $7.4 million to keep Killorn.

Can Lightning Sign Alex Killorn Contract?

The 33-year-old is looking to sign one last big contract before the end of his playing career. Killorn has played a big hand in Tampa Bay’s two Stanley Cups. The veteran leader has gotten back-to-back 25-goal seasons for the Lightning.

Killorn is a player that’s willing to do anything to help his team. He may be on the back-end of his career, but he can still help a team if he does hit the market. The unrestricted free agent will be on someone’s wish list when July 1 free agency starts.

Main photo by: Danny Wild-USA TODAY Sports