As the offseason approached, word started to leak out that the Tampa Bay Lightning wouldn’t retain Ross Colton. It wasn’t a critique of him being a bad player; it was a reality of him commanding more money than Tampa would want to pay.
It seemed like every time someone brought up the Lightning probably wouldn’t keep Colton, the online reaction was visceral and toxic.
But now that Colton has been traded to the Colorado Avalanche and officially signed a new deal with them, it’s a reminder that Tampa was never in a position to keep Colton around, given their salary cap realities.