Record<\/p>\n
37-14-4, 1st in the Atlantic (99.92% playoff probability<\/a>)<\/p>\n Deadline Status<\/p>\n Buyer<\/p>\n Deadline Cap Space<\/p>\n $3.84MM on deadline day, 0\/3 retention slots used, 47\/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Upcoming Draft Picks<\/p>\n 2026: TBL 2nd, TBL 3rd, SEA 5th, TBL 5th, TBL 6th, TBL 7th Trade Chips<\/p>\n Unlike in years past, the Bolts\u2019 arsenal of draft picks isn\u2019t completely drained. They don\u2019t have their firsts for the next two years, but they do still have one in 2028. With the Artemi Panarin<\/a> trade potentially setting a precedent for a buyer\u2019s market, that may not matter too much if the Bolts follow their usual M.O. of opting for depth over flash at the deadline. The firsts they\u2019re missing, though, went to acquiring players who are still contributing this season \u2013 Oliver Bjorkstrand<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Yanni Gourde<\/a>.<\/p>\n General manager Julien BriseBois was seemingly interested in landing a big fish this time around in Panarin<\/a>, though. However, with Tampa\u2019s player acquisition approach usually centering around a hyper-specific approach, it\u2019s unrealistic to expect that eagerness to apply to just anyone.<\/p>\n If, for example, Tampa were to pursue a reunion with Flames winger Blake Coleman<\/a>, they\u2019d likely need to leverage O\u2019Reilly to get him. The retooling Flames are under no imminent pressure to move him, since his deal runs through next season at a $4.9MM cap hit, and their ask from Tampa would likely be higher anyway, since Calgary would need to retain money on Coleman if they\u2019re not taking a roster player back. They gave up a first-round pick to get him from the Devils back in 2020 and, while they don\u2019t have a close one to spare this time around, O\u2019Reilly could hold similar value.<\/p>\n Any trade the Bolts make is unlikely to involve a roster player of any consequence going the other way. They\u2019ve been hanging on by a thread due to injuries for most of the campaign anyway and, while some expert coaching from Jon Cooper has kept their underlying numbers on the up-and-up throughout, making any meaningful subtraction from their depth \u2013 unless they\u2019re bringing in multiple pieces like last year\u2019s Bjorkstrand\/Gourde pickup from Seattle \u2013 is antithetical to the Bolts\u2019 usual preferences. One name they could have more comfortably leveraged, center Jack Finley<\/a>, was just claimed off waivers by the Blues<\/a>.<\/p>\n Behind O\u2019Reilly, Tampa\u2019s prospect pool was regarded as one of the weakest in the league entering the season. Years of contention will do that. That notion has been somewhat salvaged by an incredible breakout from 2025 fourth-rounder\u00a0Benjamin Rautianen<\/a>, though. In his native Finland, the 20-year-old center has exploded for 17 goals and 61 points in 46 games with Tappara, leading the Liiga in scoring. Expecting the Bolts to be willing to lose both O\u2019Reilly and Rautianen in one trade deadline might simply be too much risk for a team without much else in the pipeline, though.<\/p>\n Team Needs<\/p>\n Third-Line Piece:\u00a0It just so happens that Tampa\u2019s preferred deadline target continues to make too much sense this time around. A down year for Point and injuries to him and Cirelli make their depth chart look thin down the middle at the moment, but at full strength, that\u2019s not a concern. Finding someone to bump a more offensively limited name like Gage Goncalves<\/a>\u00a0out of a top-nine role on the wing, though, would be a legitimately helpful addition to an offense that already ranks fourth in the league at the Olympic break. Coleman makes sense, as could pending UFA Michael Bunting<\/a>\u00a0out of Nashville.<\/p>\n Right-Shot Depth On Defense:\u00a0Tampa doesn\u2019t need a needle-mover on the blue line.\u00a0Darren Raddysh<\/a>\u2018s breakout this season has ensured that. Still, he and\u00a0Erik \u010cern\u00e1k<\/a>\u00a0are the only two righties in the system capable of playing NHL minutes in the postseason on a regular basis.\u00a0Maxwell Crozier<\/a>\u00a0is a fine depth option, but expecting him to step into the top four in case \u010cern\u00e1k or Raddysh gets hurt \u2013 or dealing with some chemistry issues by icing so many lefties \u2013 isn\u2019t a great thought. An experienced rental 3RD option for a mid-round pick, like Connor Murphy<\/a> or a reunion with\u00a0Luke Schenn<\/a>, might be a shrewd move.<\/p>\n Image courtesy of Perry Nelson-Imagn Images.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the Olympic break now upon us, the trade deadline is less than a month away. Where does…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":452188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5105],"tags":[54005,5,189,4,697,540,92,5168,5167],"class_list":{"0":"post-452187","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa-bay-lightning","8":"tag-deadline-primer-2026","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-lightning","11":"tag-nhl","12":"tag-pro-hockey-rumors-originals","13":"tag-tampa-bay","14":"tag-tampa-bay-lightning","15":"tag-tampabay","16":"tag-tampabaylightning"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116041400643275841","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
2027: TBL 2nd, TBL 3rd, TBL 4th, TBL 6th, TBL 7th<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/USATSI_24311108-200x300.jpg\")
<\/a>High-value, middle-six forwards with term will remain attractive. In doing so, they\u2019ll need to put forth a package in which the most attractive asset is worth more than a mid-to-late second-round pick. If they were in anything close to legitimate talks to acquire Panarin, even as a rental, they had to at least breach the subject of flipping their new top prospect. Tampa acquired center Sam O\u2019Reilly<\/a>\u00a0from the Oilers last summer in a swap of late first-round picks<\/a> last offseason. The 32nd overall pick in the 2024 draft, O\u2019Reilly is in his final junior season in the OHL and was recently traded by the London Knights to the Kitchener Rangers. He hasn\u2019t shown overwhelming offensive development since his draft year, but he was always touted as a safe, two-way third-line agitator with good vision.<\/p>\n