When Steven Stamkos agreed to a new contract extension with an annual salary cap value of $8.5 million, the next immediate question was how will general manager Steve Yzerman now make everything fit in order to keep as much of the nucleus together as possible moving forwards.

One key step in that process got underway on Thursday when veteran defenseman Matt Carle was put on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a buy out.

Carle has two year's remaining on his contract, which means the buy out is spread out over for years. The cap hit on the deal is for $5.5 million each year. The cap savings for the first two years of the buy out will save the Lightning approximately $3.67 million in cap space before it turns in to about $1.8 million of dead cap space for years three and four of the deal.

But the immediate benefit comes from the cap relief the next two years for Tampa Bay as the Lightning try to find ways to get Nikita Kucherov (RFA), Vladislav Namestnikov (RFA) and Alex Killorn (RFA) signed to new deals as well as looking in to extending Victor Hedman, who is scheduled to be UFA at the end of the 2016-17 season.

What buying out Carle does is give Tampa Bay just under $13 million under the salary cap for next season for Yzerman to work with.

At the going rate for comparable players, Kucherov may take up about half of that, assuming of course he signs a long-term deal, it would likely come in around the $6 million range on an annual cap hit. Of course there is always the bridge-deal option, which would keep the contract on a short term and lower the price tag since that does not buy any potential unrestricted free agent seasons.

So that leaves rough $7 million left for Yzerman to fill out the roster.

Arguably, Killorn might see his salary rise from $2.5 million lats season to north of $4 million on a new contract, perhaps closer to $5 million based on his playoff performances the past two seasons.

Now, all of a sudden, all that free cap space evaporates quickly. (And it's key to note that any deal Hedman signs would not kick in on the salary cap until the 2017-18 season since he has one more year left at a cap hit of $4 million).

Yzerman said Wednesday night after the Stamkos deal became official that he had no doubt the Lightning would be cap compliant before the start of the season.

So are there more moves in the works?Will the talks surrounding Ben Bishop continue to the point of a deal being consummated with Dallas, perhaps? Bishop makes $5.9 million, but if there is a trade with the Stars, Tampa Bay would no doubt have to take one of the Dallas goalies back in return, likely Antti Niemi, who makes $4.5 million for the next two sesons.

Would Dallas be willing to retain some of that salary for a deal to work? Makes sense for Tampa as there would likely be a player of some sorts coming back in return from Dallas.

This is something to keep a very close eye on as the free agency window opens on Friday at noon. Even with Stamkos signed and Tampa Bay not expected to really dip in to free agency, the Lightning might still be worth keeping close tabs on.

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