The Lightning will be among the suitors for veteran defenseman John Carlson in free agency this summer, Pierre LeBrun of TSN wrote Friday.
There’s an obvious fit as the Bolts look to replace the Darren Raddysh-sized hole in their lineup – particularly on their power play. They sent the breakout rearguard to the Maple Leafs in a sign-and-trade this week after it was clear Tampa GM Julien BriseBois wasn’t comfortable offering the maximum term Raddysh desired.
Tampa also has relative assurance they’ll get a fair shot at Carlson. The longtime Washington Capital, who was acquired by the Ducks as a deadline rental, is intent on testing free agency with a desire to return to the East Coast.
They won’t need to shell out any sort of significant contract length to the 36-year-old, either. Carlson, who’s likely to find himself in the Hall of Fame conversation when he eventually retires, is coming off a 60-point season – his best offensive showing since the 2021-22 campaign. He did so in large samples, including a 14-point run in 16 games to end the season with Anaheim, and ended up finishing 11th in scoring among defensemen in the regular season.
One of the few names ahead of him was Raddysh, whose lethal point shot fueled the 30-year-old’s 22-goal, 70-point breakout in just his third full NHL season. With captain Victor Hedman‘s impact in the lineup next season questionable after injuries and a lengthy personal leave limited him to just one goal and 17 points in 33 games, acquiring a new power-play point man is crucial for their offensive game plan.
Carlson shouldn’t break the bank, given his age. AFP Analytics projects him to land a three-year deal just north of the $7MM mark, roughly $1.5MM in savings on what Raddysh ended up agreeing to in the deal with Toronto without the long-term commitment attached. As far as stopgap solutions go to extend an aging core’s contention window, you could do far worse than Carlson’s 1,159 games of NHL experience and seven seasons with Norris Trophy consideration.
Cap space won’t be an issue for the Bolts, who have no big-ticket RFAs to re-sign and over $13MM in cap space with a virtually full roster count already, per PuckPedia.
