NHL Training Camp Preview: Can The Lightning and Leafs Rule The East?

The National Hockey League will begin its 106th season in early October, with a number of clubs looking to unseat the Colorado Avalanche after their Stanley Cup victory earlier this summer, while others are preparing to make a run at getting the best odds to select presumptive first overall pick, Connor Bedard.

With the NHL salary cap going up only $1 million, many clubs had to make difficult roster decisions. Nearly half the league is currently over the $82.5 million limit and will be using LTIR (long-term injured reserve) to get under the cap, while budget clubs used their cap space to add draft capital.

Here is the preview of the reigning Eastern Conference Champion who came close to winning their third straight Stanley Cup, and one of the NHL’s  best regular season clubs in the NHL who have not been able to have any success when the postseason rolls around:   

Tampa Bay Lightning (51-23-8 – 3rd place in the Atlantic Division – Lost to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final)

Who’s Out – Ondrej Palat, Ryan McDonagh, Jan Rutta 

Who’s In –  Vladislav Namestinikov, Ian Cole, Philippe Myers, Haydn Fleury

In a non-salary cap world, there would be no reason to mess with a roster that won two straight Cups and came close to making it three in a row, but GM Julien Brisebois had to make some tough decisions with players who were key contributors to their championship run. Tampa chose to lock up players entering their prime (Anthony Cirelli, Mikhail Sergachev, Erik Cernak, and Nick Paul) on eight-year max contracts, and opted to trade McDonagh to Nashville, and not re-sign Palat and Rutta, all of who were over the age of 30. The Lightning’s off-season additions were depth players, bringing back the versatile and well-traveled Namestnikov, and bluelners Cole, Myers, and Fleury on short-term deals.      

2022-23 Potential impact prospects

W – Alex Barre-Boulet

W – Gabriel Fortier

D – Nicklaus Perbix

Barre-Boulet has been an effective scorer for AHL Syracuse for a number of seasons and would have earned a long NHL look with any other team. After getting claimed by Seattle early last season, he was reclaimed by Tampa and scored 63 points with the Crunch. Fortier tripled his offensive production in his second AHL campaign and may benefit from the exodus of many of the Lightning’s forward prospects in deals last season. Perbix was a sixth-round pick in 2017 and played four years at St. Cloud State before playing for Team USA in Beijing and signing an entry-level contract and scoring eight points in a brief AHL stint.    

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Toronto Maple Leafs (54-21-7 – 2nd place in the Atlantic Division – Lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round)

Who’s Out –  Ilya Mikheyev, Jack Campbell, Petr Mrazek, Ondrej Kase, Jason Spezza, Ilya Lyubushkin, Colin Blackwell 

Who’s In – Calle Jarnkrok, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, Adam Gaudette, Zach Aston-Reese(PTO), Matt Murray, Ilya Samsonov

After posting a franchise-best 115 points last season, the Leafs pushed Tampa Bay to the limit before bowing out in the first round for the sixth straight year. GM Kyle Dubas chose not to tamper with the club’s core group but made a number of moves going into a make-it-or-break-it year.  After losing five players in free agency, Spezza to retirement, and trading Mrazek to Chicago, the Leafs added players with versatility in Jarnkrok, Aube-Kubel, Gaudette, and Aston-Reese, but are rolling the dice between the pipes with the signing of Samsonov(who did not receive a qualifying offer from Washington) and trading for two-time Cup winner Murray (who struggled with injuries over two seasons with Ottawa).   

2022-23 Potential impact prospects

W – Matthew Knies

W – Nick Robertson 

D – Topi Niemela

Knies had a strong freshman season at Minnesota and played for Team USA in the World Juniors and Beijing Olympics, and it is expected that the 20-year-old will sign with the Leafs after his NCAA year is complete. Robertson led the OHL with 55 goals in 2019-20 but has played only 65 games over two seasons due to injuries. Niemela was named the top defenseman at the 2021 WJC and scored 32 points for Karpat in the Finnish league last season.