Four straight years. That\u2019s how long the Tampa Bay Lightning have walked into the playoffs with expectations and walked out in the first round.<\/p>\n
The explanations are starting to wear thin. Jon Cooper leans on \u201cthe hockey gods.\u201d Andrei Vasilevskiy is done hearing it. Inside the room, there\u2019s a growing sense that belief alone isn\u2019t enough anymore.<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay knows exactly how good it is. That\u2019s what makes this stretch so frustrating. <\/p>\n
So, what does Tampa’s offseason look like?<\/p>\n
The Tampa Bay Lightning have been eliminated and head into the offseason with about $15 million in cap space. <\/p>\n
Pretty much everyone is locked up. Darren Raddysh is a UFA who had a breakout season at 30 years old. pic.twitter.com\/gcvTt0j3Rl<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Bruins Cap (@BruinsCapSpace) May 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Darren Raddysh: Raddysh is the most important player that the Bolts have to make a decision on. A defenseman who has a breakout season ranking 4th on the Bolts with 70 points, breaking Tampa’s single season goal record for defensemen (22) and securing 48 assists. Raddysh played on a $975,000 contract and will likely be looking for north of $6 million, a fairly reasonable clip. <\/p>\n Raddysh on if he would like to stay in Tampa:<\/p>\n \u201cI’m very thankful for everything that Tampa has given me. They gave me a shot to play in the NHL and I’ve been here for the last four years. I can’t say anything bad about this organization. It\u2019s given me everything that I’ve always wanted to do in my life. The business side, I think, will take some time and let those guys deal with that and, like I said, just try to enjoy being a dad, enjoy the summer, and get back to that in a few weeks\u201d<\/p>\n –\u00a0Darren Raddysh<\/p>\n Corey Perry: Perry was a solid acquisition for Tampa in their lackluster trade deadline, but he is 40 years old. Tampa will likely let Perry walk to save room for Raddysh and to make moves to get younger and more physical.<\/p>\n Oliver Bjorkstrand: Bjorkstrand was honestly a terrible pickup. Two firsts and a second for Bjorkstrand\u2014zero points, three playoff games as a healthy scratch, minus-14 on the year, and 12 goals. Tampa could have really used that first round pick this season, but here we are. Bjorkstrand likely walks.<\/p>\n Other Free Agents: <\/p>\n Scott Sabourin RFAs Tampa will have around $15 million dollars to work with.<\/p>\n Tampa has their own second round pick, third, fifth, sixth, seventh, and Seattle’s fifth.<\/p>\n The main priority for the Tampa Bay Lightning this offseason is re-signing Darren Raddysh. For a team that has struggled to score in big games, his lethal right-sided one-timer paired with Nikita Kucherov\u2019s passing is a weapon that can\u2019t be given up.<\/p>\n Player for player, they have\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/Pt38Z3LEMQ<\/a><\/p>\n
Mitchell Chaffee
Nicholas Abruzzese
Declan Carlile (group 6)
Ian Mitchell
Brandon Halverson
Ryan Fanti (group 6)<\/p>\n
Maxim Groshev
Ethan Samson<\/p>\n