Tampa Bay Lightning say goodbye to Tyler Johnson in a pure business move

by Erik Erlendsson | @Erik_Erlendsson | Like us on Facebook
July 27, 2021

TAMPA – After dancing around the possibility for 10 months, the Tampa Bay Lightning finally said goodbye to center Tyler Johnson on the eve of the free agent window opening.

Johnson was dealt to the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday along with a second round draft pick in 2023 in exchange for defenseman Brent Seabrook.

It marks the end of remarkable nine year run for Johnson. who helped turn Tampa Bay into a consistent contender and eventual back-to-back champion.

But the salary cap came calling and the move was made solely from a business stand point. And from that stand point, the move provides the Lightning exactly what they needed to accomplish to tweak the roster and reload for a run at a three-peat.

It gets a bit complicated on how acquiring a $6.875 million cap hit benefits the Lightning, though it’s a familiar formula.

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Seabrook, a key member of the Chicago dynasty that won three Stanley Cup titles in a span of five years between 2010 and 2015 and a gold medalist , announced in March that a back injury that kept him out for the 2021 season will prevent him from behind able to play again. He has three years remaining on an eight year deal worth $55 million he signed ahead of the 2015-16 season and carries a cap hit of $6.875 million. In actual cash, Seabrook is owed $15.5 million.

Just like last season, the commodity the Lightning gained in the trade is the cap space that they acquired. On the surface, that makes little sense because Johnson carried a $5 million cap hit. But just like last season, when Nikita Kucherov needed hip surgery and Tampa Bay subsequently acquired injured players Marion Gaborik and Andres Nilsson from Ottawa, it’s the ability to utilize the long term injury relief with Seabrook that aids the Lightning in building the roster out.

Before the move, the Lightning had roughly $754,000 in available salary cap space heading into the start of free agency at noon on Wednesday. Now, with Johnson out and Seabrook on the books, it provides general manager Julien BriseBois the flexibility to resign the key restricted free agents – Ross Colton, Cal Foote, Alex Barre-Boulet, Taylor Raddysh and Boris Katchouk – along with a backup goaltender and perhaps a depth forward/defenseman on a low salary contract (and Tampa Bay has been linked to Corey Perry).

Being able to add Seabrook’s contract means that, essentially, Tampa Bay can build a roster that exceeds the $81.5 million salary cap by approximately the amount of the $6.875 million hit that Seabrook carries, which means the Lightning can build a roster worth around $88.375.

That’s not exactly the number because there are other parameters that need to take place as the Lightning need to push the opening day roster – due to the league two days before the start of the regular season in October – as close to the actual $81.5 million dollar ceiling in order to maximize the long term injury relief that would come from Seabrook being placed on LTIR.

At the end of the day, it gives something Tampa Bay did not have before the day started – flexibility.

And that flexibility is not just for this season, but for the final two years of the deal, as well, when Tampa Bay has an eye on having to extend the contracts of Brayden Point (who is eligible to sign an extension starting Wednesday), Anthony Cirelli and Mikhail Sergachev, who are up after the 2022-23 season.

It’s just another example of BriseBois and the staff utilizing every took at their disposal to keep the core of the team intact and chase more Stanley Cup titles.

But that does come at the expense of a player who was at the heart of that core starting in 2014 when he was a finalist for the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the year. The next season he was the center of the top line in hockey with Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat, leading the Lightning to an Eastern Conference championship and a berth in the Stanley Cup Final against Chicago when Johnson, ironically enough, suffered a fractured thumb after being hit by Seabrook.

“This wasn’t easy and it wasn’t pleasant . . . all these players that just helped us win Stanley Cups leave our organization for cap reasons,” BriseBois said. “It’s not enjoyable, but at the same time it was absolutely necessary. We just couldn’t keep Tyler on our team at a $5 million cap hit on our team going forward because of all the other players that we need to play and the role that they play on our team. I was happy that he was able to get to a good organization in the Chicago Blackhawks and I think he’s going to have a real good opportunity there to continue his career. … Good for the Blackhawks, they were able to take advantage of our salary cap situation and good for Tyler, he gets a fresh start, I know he wasn’t looking for one and he wanted to stay in Tampa and I know that’s the case, but at the same time this was unavoidable at this point. The one thing this will provide Tyler is a little bit of piece of mind knowing where he’s going to be playing going forward and not being concerned that at any point he might be traded because he understood the cap situation we were in.”

In 2016, Johnson was named to the NHL All Star game but was unable to participate due to injury, though he did travel to Columbus and took part in some of the festivities. As recently as 2019, he scored 29 goals.

But the production tailed off the past two seasons with 14 goals and 31 points last season and just seven points in the playoffs playing primarily second line wing duties as Tampa Bay won the Stanley Cup.

In the offseason, Tampa Bay needed to move cap space out and tried for weeks to move Johnson, even placing him on waivers on the first day of free agency in October. When it was announced Kucherov required surgery, it opened up an opportunity for Johnson to remain with the team for the season, but he was placed on waivers once again ahead of the season and was forced to sit out the season opener.

The production trailed off again with just eight goals and 22 points in 55 games. In the playoffs, while only finishing with four goals and seven points, he set up Pat Maroon’s series-clinching goal against Florida in the opening round and had a two-goal night in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against Montreal.

Johnson signed with Tampa Bay an unrestricted free agent in 2010 and spent 11 years as part of the Lightning organization. He helped lead the Norfolk Admirals to a Calder Cup championship in the American Hockey League in 2012 and led the Syracuse Crunch back to the Calder Cup final in 2013. Winning a pair of Stanley Cup titles the past two seasons means Johnson has won a Western Hockey League title, a Memorial Cup championship (both with Spokane) and gold medal with Team USA in the 2008 World Junior championships, a Calder Cup title and a Stanley Cup.

Johnson finished his Lightning career with 161 goals, 200 assists and 361 points in 589 games, including eight shorthanded goals and 30 game-winning goals. In 116 career playoff games, he had 32 goals and 65 points with nine game-winning goals. He lead all playoff scorers with 13 goals and 23 points in the 2015 postseason and is the only player in franchise playoff history to record a hat trick.

“I’d like to personally thank Tyler for what he has meant to this organization over the past nine years since he joined the Lightning as an undrafted free agent,” BriseBois said in a statement. “He played a pivotal role in the success the team has enjoyed and will forever be remembered as a two-time Stanley Cup Champion with the Bolts. We wish him all the best in Chicago.”

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