The 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs came to a disappointing end for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Winnipeg Jets.
Considered a favorite to reach the Stanley Cup Final, the Lightning were eliminated by the Washington Capitals in the Eastern Conference Final.
The Jets, meanwhile, showed potential as a future Cup contender but came up short this year against the Vegas Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final.
Despite the dispiriting end to their respective championship hopes, the two clubs should be serious Cup contenders next season.
The two teams share similarities. They’re captained by high-scoring forwards; the Lightning by Steven Stamkos, the Jets by Blake Wheeler. They each have a young star forward currently in his playing prime. Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov, 24, is an elite sniper while the Jets’ 25-year-old Mark Scheifele has come into his own as a top-line center.
Both clubs possess young goaltenders who rose to prominence this season. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck, 25, and Tampa Bay’s Andrej Vasilevskiy, 23, are Vezina Trophy finalists.
The Jets and Lightning also carry several youngsters whose best seasons remain ahead of them. Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine, 20, is considered by some as the league’s next great goal-scoring star. Tampa Bay center Brayden Point, 22, blossomed this season into a talented two-way performer.
Considering how well their teams performed this season, Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and Lightning GM Steve Yzerman could make few changes to their rosters. They might simply re-sign their core free agents and perhaps promote some promising youngsters from their respective farm systems this fall.
Still, there could be issues that force them to consider a move or two this summer via trade or free agency.
Cheveldayoff will be busy re-signing several key restricted free agents. Hellebuyck and defensemen Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey will likely seek lucrative long-term deals. Key depth players such as Brandon Tanev, Joel Armia, and Adam Lowry must also be re-signed.
Trade-deadline acquisition Paul Stastny is an unrestricted free agent this summer. While he was a terrific fit with the Jets, Cheveldayoff probably can’t afford to re-sign him.
Cap Friendly indicates Winnipeg has over $54 million invested in 14 players. Even if the salary cap reaches $80 million for next season as projected, the cost of re-signing those restricted free agents likely means little room for Stastny or fellow UFA (and long-time Jets blueliner) Toby Enstrom.
The potential departure of Stastny will leave the Jets in need of a skilled second-line center. They could simply move Bryan Little back into that role. Still, Stastny’s addition brought an added measure of skilled depth to their scoring lines that will be missed next season.
Yzerman has fewer free-agent concerns this summer. All his core players are under contract through next season. His notable restricted free agents include J.T. Miller, Cedric Paquette and Slater Koekkoek. With $68 million tied up in 18 player players, re-signing that trio will likely use up most of his cap space. Unrestricted free agents Chris Kunitz and Andrej Sustr aren’t expected to return.
Lightning defensemen Braydon Coburn (33) and Dan Girardi (34) struggled to contain the Capitals’ physical forwards in the Eastern Conference Final. They’re both entering the final seasons of their contracts. Maybe Yzerman will draw upon his forward depth next month (Tyler Johnson, perhaps?) as trade bait to bring in a younger, faster, more affordable blueliner.
