Jon Cooper readily admitted this might've been the last stand for the Tampa Bay Lightning shortly after they won their second consecutive Stanley Cup. Pressed against the constraints of the salary cap, and cleverly circumventing the rules this year, the possibility that this would be a final gasp weighed heavily upon the now back-to-back champions.
Tampa Bay will have to give up a contributor in the expansion draft to the Seattle Kraken — Alex Killorn, Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Yanni Gourde may be exposed, all of whom can play meaningful minutes. Killorn broke his fibula, but assuming he returns to full health, is a constant 40-point scorer with excellent net-front presence, Palat is an indispensable puck-retrieval specialist for arguably the NHL's best line, Gourde is an analytics darling who can operate as a shutdown center, and Johnson can be rotated throughout the lineup, both at center and wing.