Kevin Allen: A few teams could help the Lightning for a price Questions and answers about what happens next in the free agent marketplace.

I can't see Tyler Johnson waiving his NTC for Detroit unless Yzerman agrees to flip him to another team. Problem is Yzerman would have to retain 50% for a team to take TJ at 2.5 mil. But does Yzerman really want to eat 2.5 mil of TJ's dead cap space for 4 years? Don't forget. He's eating Abdelkader's dead cap space for the next 6 years after buying him out.

What is the sweetener? A 1st round pick? A top prospect? Both? 2 seconds and a Taylor Raddysh? I have no idea. Yzerman got a 2nd rounder for 1 year of Marc Staal. He essentially bought himself a 2nd round pick. But what's 4 years of Tyler Johnson worth?

Are 2 teams allowed to retain money on a player in a 3 way trade? Or would it have to be 2 separate trades? I don't even know if that's allowed? Is it cap circumvention? Brisebois is going to have to be creative. But it looks like he's not willing to give anything of value up. Otherwise a trade would've been made by now. Teams are looking for quality not quantity.

If Brisebois is trying to beat Yzerman at poker... good luck with that. Just ask Jonathan Drouin. The more I think about this the more I believe Brisebois should avoid trading with Yzerman. I mean Stevie just recently got 2 second round picks for Athanasiou. A player who isn't even signed yet. And that's a seasoned GM vet in Kenny Holland. What will Stevie do to a still relatively green GM in Brisebois?

I can't see Tyler Johnson waiving his NTC for Detroit unless Yzerman agrees to flip him to another team. Problem is Yzerman would have to retain 50% for a team to take TJ at 2.5 mil. But does Yzerman really want to eat 2.5 mil of TJ's dead cap space for 4 years? Don't forget. He's eating Abdelkader's dead cap space for the next 6 years after buying him out.

What is the sweetener? A 1st round pick? A top prospect? Both? 2 seconds and a Taylor Raddysh? I have no idea. Yzerman got a 2nd rounder for 1 year of Marc Staal. He essentially bought himself a 2nd round pick. But what's 4 years of Tyler Johnson worth?

Are 2 teams allowed to retain money on a player in a 3 way trade? Or would it have to be 2 separate trades? I don't even know if that's allowed? Is it cap circumvention? Brisebois is going to have to be creative. But it looks like he's not willing to give anything of value up. Otherwise a trade would've been made by now. Teams are looking for quality not quantity.

If Brisebois is trying to beat Yzerman at poker... good luck with that. Just ask Jonathan Drouin. The more I think about this the more I believe Brisebois should avoid trading with Yzerman. I mean Stevie just recently got 2 second round picks for Athanasiou. A player who isn't even signed yet. And that's a seasoned GM vet in Kenny Holland. What will Stevie do to a still relatively green GM in Brisebois?
- gergeswillems

Like the Wings blog said, Yzerman doesn't have to do anything but wait. Even when Mantha and Bertuzzi get signed he'll have close to 10Mil in cap space. As the season gets closer, he'll have GMs calling with picks and prospects to shed their salary. The longer he waits, the better return he'll get.

Like the Wings blog said, Yzerman doesn't have to do anything but wait. Even when Mantha and Bertuzzi get signed he'll have close to 10Mil in cap space. As the season gets closer, he'll have GMs calling with picks and prospects to shed their salary. The longer he waits, the better return he'll get.
- habfanforever

It makes sense taking 1 year cap dumps. 2-4 years? I'd stay away. Maybe Yzerman is staying away. It'll be interesting to see how Brisebois gets Tampa out of Cap hell. There's not many teams with the Cap space to take on bad contracts. And teams like Ottawa certainly don't want to spend to the Cap ceiling.

I think Brisebois miscalculated. This is pure speculation on my part. But I believe Brisebois thought for sure that TJ would be claimed on waivers. He wasn't. And now he's scrambling to find another way to dump salary. He has to pretend he's not desperate but every GM knows he is. It's all about leverage. Who has it? And who doesn't?

You're right. Yzerman doesn't have to do anything. He's in the early stages of a rebuild. Brisebois HAS to do something or else his team can't play any games next season. Well not with his 3 unsigned RFAs anyway. All he has to do is find 1 GM to help him out. I don't know which GM that is.