TAMPA — Ross Colton, a homegrown piece of the Lightning’s younger championship core who scored the title-clinching goal in the 2021 Stanley Cup final, has become the franchise’s latest salary-cap casualty.
General manager Julien BriseBois had hoped to retain Colton, but the 26-year-old forward was due a significant raise this offseason as a restricted free agent that the team ultimately couldn’t afford under next season’s $83.5 million cap.
So, hours before the beginning of the NHL draft Wednesday in Nashville, the Lightning dealt Colton to the Avalanche for a second-round pick (No. 37th overall). Colton was made a qualifying offer by the Lightning, and his rights now belong to Colorado.
“In an ideal world, not unlike in years past, I’d be able to bring everyone back,” BriseBois said. “But that’s just not the reality in a flat-cap world. And had to make decisions as to how best to allocate our cap space, and considering what we project that Ross will be awarded had we gone to salary arbitration, it just made more sense to trade him and use that cap space somewhere else and get an asset in return to hopefully replenish the pipeline.”
Colton had 16 goals and 16 assists last season while playing primarily on the Lightning’s third line. It was a dip from his 22-goal, 17-assist first full NHL season in 2021-22 but enough to get a major salary bump. After the 2020-21 season, Colton signed a two-year, $1.125 million average annual value (AAV) contract as an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent. He was projected for a $3.351 million AAV offseason extension, according to Evolving Hockey.
BriseBois said he knew that he wouldn’t be able to retain Colton, unrestricted free agent Alex Killorn and restricted free agent Tanner Jeannot but still hopes he can keep two of the players. He said he’s had conversations with Killorn’s representatives, and both sides are looking for a solution to make him a career-long Lightning player. Tampa Bay has made a qualifying offer to Jeannot, who was acquired at the deadline for five draft picks and defenseman Cal Foote.
“All of us want him to stay,” BriseBois said of Killorn. “He’s a big part of our organization and has played a huge role in the past. … Alex has stated publicly as well that he has a very strong preference to play for the Lightning and continue his career here and end his career with us, which is what we’re trying to accomplish here. But, obviously, we haven’t come to terms yet.”
A fourth-round pick out of the USHL in 2016, Colton was a player development success story. After college hockey at Vermont, he played two full seasons at AHL Syracuse before joining the Lightning six weeks into the 2020-21 season, playing first on the team’s fourth line. He could play center or wing, score goals, and brought a strong possession, puck-battling and forechecking game. Armed with a rocket shot from the right circle, he emerged as a scoring threat on Tampa Bay’s second-team power-play unit, scoring four of his 16 goals last season with the man-advantage.
A fan favorite, Colton scored the only goal in the Lightning’s 1-0 win over the Canadiens in Game 5 of the 2021 Stanley Cup final. He also scored the winner on the road in Game 2 of the second-round series against Florida in 2022. It helped to propel Tampa Bay to a four-game sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy winner on its way to a third straight Stanley Cup final, where it lost to Colorado.
“Ross was a fabulous player for our organization, a very popular player, a very popular teammate,” BriseBois said. “He’s another success story from our draft team and our development program. He put in the work … worked his way into being an NHL regular and a Stanley Cup winner and scored a huge goal to help us clinch a Stanley Cup in 2021, and no one can ever erase that. I’m really appreciative of the way he went about his business, the way he conducted himself and worked his way into becoming an NHL player. That’s role-model stuff for our future prospects.”
The Lightning currently have just 17 players under one-way contracts and only about $7.325 million of cap space left, including the final year of retired defenseman Brent Seabrook’s contract, which allows them $6.875 million of cap space through long-term injured reserve.
BriseBois said he doesn’t see further need to trade another player to become cap-compliant this season.
Before trading Colton, the Lightning didn’t have a pick in this year’s draft until the sixth round (179th overall). Despite being focused on their one sixth-round pick and two seventh-rounders, the Lightning’s amateur scouting department prepared a list of targets in case the team made a trade to acquire a higher pick. The draft gets underway with the first round Wednesday night, followed by rounds 2-7 on Thursday.
“We have our list prepared for whatever (BriseBois) throws at us,” Lightning amateur scouting director Al Murray said last week. “If there’s a high first-round pick or mid-first-round pick right through the end of the seventh, there’s players in all areas that we think will be there if we were to pick in those areas.”
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