Lightning not worried about offer sheets for Brayden Point
Joe Smith: Tampa Bay Lightning GM Julien BriseBois on if he’s worried about a potential offer sheet for Brayden Point this offseason.
“I’m really not concerned at all about offer sheets. I don’t see it happening. The way it’s set up, there’s not point in making an offer sheet unless you think you’re going to get the players. And teams match. You’re not going to let go the good young players that are going to be good for your team for many years to come. So I don’t see it.”
BriseBois on if they are worried if a team could offer sheet just to disrupt their salary cap and plans they have by forcing them to match.
“In the summer you have a 10 percent cushion, right? It sets up so really, especially when you only have one (RFA), you’re kind of limited in the havoc you can create on someone else’s cap. Because we’ve got four days to match and you see that 10 percent cushion on the cap you have until the season starts. That gives you plenty of time to move things around if you need to.”
Top free agents will remember Lites’ comments
Chris Nichols of Nichols on Hockey: Darren Dreger on TSN 1050 was asked about his thoughts on Dallas Stars CEO’s comments about Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Towards the end of Dreger’s thoughts he says:
“But after something like this… these type of things manifest. So now if all of the sudden Gaglardi decides if things don’t go well for the Dallas Stars that he needs a new general manager – which, it kind of feels that way, doesn’t it, based on Jim Lites coming out instead of Jim Nill coming out and softening the blow, but still sending a stinging message.
“If you feel like you’ve got to renovate or maybe even have a rebuild in mind, you’ve got to dip back into the unrestricted free agent market. Top unrestricted free agents are going to remember these quotes and this approach by ownership for a long, long time.”