Joe Smith of The Athletic: (mailbag) It’s hard to see the Tampa Bay Lightning being able to re-sign the 30-year old Ondrej Palat when his contract expires after this season. He has a year left at $5.3 million. He may not get that much on the open market, but he’d have to be willing to give the Lightning a huge deal for him to return.
The Lightning didn’t seem to have any issues signing RFAs Alex Barre-Boulet, Taylor Raddysh, Boris Katchouk and Cal Foote. Ross Colton has filed for salary arbitration and could be their third-line center next year or slot in beside Anthony Cirelli and Alex Killorn.