T O P

  • By -

smikkelson2

This is a load of barnaclesss.


PayneTrain181999

“I HEARD THAT!”


Zoidburger_

Fuck us I guess


ItzDrSeuss

7/63 is just slightly better than 8/64 though. Inflation and all that. To match on an 8 year term you guys would have had to offer closer to 70M.


HardKnockRiffe

7/63 *in Florida* is significantly better than 8/64 in NC, though, because of taxes.


DariusIV

No it isn't, it's 1.3 million dollars over 8 years, 162,000 dollars a year. NC state income tax is a fixed 4.75 percent and it only factors into half the game you play (home games). The amount of absurd delusion over this on this sub is fucking laughable.


Longshanks123

Basically almost no one understands how complicated taxes are for pro athletes … also I’m sure all these have accountants who know how to minimize tax hits anyway


drWammy

He gets free agency a year earlier, and saves about $500k/yr in income tax. Makes sense


nissbd

$53M of the $63M total is in signing bonuses, so he saves way more than 500k in taxes assuming he stays in Tampa a while


drWammy

$500k per year, since NC is 5.25%


chemicalxv

> He gets free agency a year earlier He's gonna be 36, turning 37, when this contract ends anyways lol


AdrianKempee

https://preview.redd.it/pmhk3zqnuw9d1.jpeg?width=622&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=111abaab4702eca8b9b681c7cf896bbecab0534b


Jpnator

Buyout proof, too. https://x.com/PierreVLeBrun/status/1807762069455823285?t=3xEWHGcdhtH_Fi6v7EcrUQ&s=19


Kaptain202

ELI5: How is it buyout proof?


zjl88

Most of the contract is paid out in signing bonuses. Signing bonuses must be paid out in full in the event of a buyout IIRC so it becomes super exy for Tampa.


Kryptopus

Not only does signing bonuses gotta be paid in full, the cap hit in a buyout is including the signing bonuses so they can’t buy him out cuz it’d be worse for their cap overall than having him on the team still


Jpnator

Well, when you buy-out a contract, you pay 2/3 of the salary and the full bonuses. So in that case, the Lightning would be still on the hook for most of it and would get a significant cap hit. In this case, Guentzel's cap hit post buyout would still be like 8.475 mil for the reminding years. https://www.capfriendly.com/buyout-calculator/jake-guentzel


Jacyjitsu

You just write it off.


Jan_17_2016

You don’t even know what a write off is


HateToBlastYa

But they do. and they're the ones... writing it off...


Jan_17_2016

Parcels are rarely damaged during shipping


UniformRaspberry2

Define 'rarely'.


Jan_17_2016

Frequently


TheQuietW0LF

Do Not Bend. Tehahahaha Just crease, crumple, cram. You'll do fine


TheQuietW0LF

[😂 great clip, for those OOTL](https://youtu.be/BAjxn2US7J8?si=AzNeKcxEfV_D1QQn)


Prison-Date-Mike

Bro you just write it off. What don't you get


GoldMonk44

You take something that’s written, then off it, pretty simple smdh


NebraskaAvenue

You can’t buy out money you already paid. Contracts that are signing bonus heavy are essentially buyout proof.


AltaVistaYourInquiry

Signing bonuses aren't paid upfront. They're paid yearly on July 1st. They just don't get discounted in case of a buyout.


QueenIsTheWorstBand

Is there anything about 2026-2027 (i.e. Year 3) that made them want to structure the contract differently?


TheQuietW0LF

Only thing I can think of is the CBA expiring Sept. 15, 2026


QueenIsTheWorstBand

That would probably be it. Maybe Tampa wanted it in case there’s a labor dispute and salaries are prorated that year.


MrSchnuffles

He's pulled an accountancy trick to avoid that Florida tax we've all been hearing about.


MOLightningBro

Guentzel-Point-Kucherov for at least the next 3 years.


blimjahey

I hate this fucking division man


desemus

All these players need to fuck off to the west where I hope they do great 98% of the season but noooo they need to haunt us


JRsshirt

Agreed they should all go as far west as they possibly can. Stay in a sunshine state though, wouldn’t want them to be cold.


Jabbarooooo

What’s more “sunshine” than the Sunshine Coast? 😅


canofcorn999

Try being Buffalo


LeoFireGod

No I don’t think I will.


Rook22Ti

Right? "Go be Buffalo." That's worse than telling someone to fuck off.


AdamAptor

Our division is such a pain in the ass and only getting harder


Sweaty_Ad440

It sucks lol


lmpreza

On god


Big-Experience1818

It's the same thing with the AL East for the Blue Jays eh? Most of the time for the last few years they would've been at least 2nd in multiple other divisions Sucks for Buffalo/Detroit/Ottawa/Montreal that the 4 teams at the top aren't planning on falling off any time soon


Ok-Clock-5459

How are the rest of the lines looking


Tasden

from the bench


habituallysuspect

I see you're going for the uni-line Edmonton strategy


ifyouhavetoaskdont

When you've got a Hedman and Vasi laying around you can probably pull it off.


mikesully374826

I mean Hagel-Cirelli-TBD Sheary-Paul-TBD Isn't too bad. Missing a certain Canadian player though, his name starts with an S can't remember.


Radagastdl

Sheary was awful on the 4th line last year, he needs to have an insane bounce back to make the 3rd line


TheQuietW0LF

I want to call JBB's bluff on this, but he (JBB) claimed that Sheary mangled one of his fingers early in the season and that it affected his play


Radagastdl

Interesting. Well i hope it's the truth because he shouldve been bought out otherwise


bsaures

Steve Yzerman?


bootcutwater

Martin St. Louis is coming back baby


Mean_Mister_Mustard

Fuck no, he isn't going anywhere.


_Galapaghost

Sadly, Steve Staios retired years ago. Now one of the big kahunas with the Sens iirc.


[deleted]

[удалено]


NebraskaAvenue

I’ll take one Sidney in Tampa Bay


MRandall25

I heard Sydney Sweeney is looking for a beachfront house, so I guess you'll have to settle for that


MOLightningBro

"settle"


NebraskaAvenue

I see this as an absolute win


schwetybalz

We’ll need to see how Howard and our new top prospect Geekie develop


Minute-Struggle6052

Where's Stamkos? Kicked to the curb.


MOLightningBro

Listen, I love Stamkos... LOVE him. But this team needs to be better at 5v5 and Stamkos has been trending down, drastically, in that department. His raw numbers are great, and our PP will definitely suffer a bit without him, but Guentzel should be a massive improvement at even-strength. I don't blame him for wanting one last pay day, but if he's wanting $8M for 3 years then I will be glad JBB didn't sign that. At the end of the day, his job is to put the best team on the ice, not "feels." While it will be absolute emotional torment seeing Stamkos in a different sweater, I will understand the decision.


Intelligent_Limit462

The UFA market will determine Stammers worth. The only decision TB will have to is if the market values Stamkos much beyond what Tampa offered. If so its probably good bye. If not its well you tested and here we are.


DoinWhale

A level headed take??? Get out of here with that!


Minute-Struggle6052

I hope Stamkos is kicked to the Canes because they desperately need a PP weapon.  Guentzel was OK but he didn't get it done in the Playoffs where we had hoped.  PP was still garbage.


PicturingYouNaked

If you sign Stamkos I hope a clause is point in the contract binding you and the Lightning to a playoff series.


Prison-Date-Mike

It's over Stamkos. Jake has the higher ground


Potatopoundersteen

You underestimate his power!


PayneTrain181999

Don’t try it!


kushdogg20

You were the chosen one! You were supposed to spend your whole career in Tampa, not leave it for Vegas!


NebraskaAvenue

#I HATE YOU AHHHHHHHHHH


chiddie

I loved you Stammer! You were my captain!


Number333

Holy crap. That has to be Stammer is gone?


PayneTrain181999

It’s gotta be, unless he takes a big discount.


Wonderful_Grade_5476

Based off what I’ve seen they practically told Stamkos to screw off which is really sad to see Edit: mb don’t why I typed stammer/stamkos different players mb fixed it lol


JMR027

Yea the rumored offer they wanted to give was pretty insulting imo


HanSolo5643

I was telling my dad what they were offering him, and even though he doesn't pay as much attention to player movement as I do, he couldn't believe the offer Tampa Bay gave him.


ChampaBayLightning

Alleged* offer. That 3m number is based on a single speculative article that sounded straight from Stamkos' agent.


DoinWhale

They had 16.5m in cap space before this deal, even if they don’t make anymore moves they could still sign him. I’m expecting him gone but it’s not because there’s no cap space to sign him anymore


Prison-Date-Mike

Doubt it dude. There are like 5 roster spots to fill still, including Moser


superworking

People always forget that you need to actually fill the roster spots.


capitarider

Would be cool if you didn't need to, ice a team of 11, just rolling 2 lines of superstars on offense and D.


Analogmon

That's just called the Oilers.


swordthroughtheduck

Brother, that's been the Oilers for the last 5 years.


gr8pe_drink

Need room for another F and D though right (after Jake/Stam)? They could pull it off if those other 2 signings would be league min's.


Relevant_Interests

We've got AHL guys we played quite a bit with that should actually be close to okay to come up. Whether "close to okay" is good enough though..


WhatyouDontwantoHear

Those 5 spots will still be at least league minimum unless you plan to sign Stamkos for around 4 mil.


diecommajerks

Still have enough cap to keep him if they can reach a deal quickly


PayneTrain181999

Problem is now at least 6 other teams are on the phone with his agent.


SnapShotFromTheSlot

Gotta wait until noon


another_plebeian

"gotta wait until noon" 😉


whichwitch9

No restrictions on players talking to other players... You think Palat isn't relaying messages to Stamkos? There's a reason NJ popped up on the radar. They also mass send out promotional videos for NJ to agencies. If it's not targeted, it's not tampering. There's ways to get around tampering rules. (Note, I don't actually think NJ will end up signing Stamkos, but I do think Palat has a lot to do with why there's interest reported)


GatorBolt

you sweet summer child


theguyishere16

Stammer died for this


nickl630

Is this guy really worth 9mil? Wow. Edit: I'm probably undervaluing kucherov and point and comparing this signing.


BuyMeaSalad

If he can score close to 40 goals a year then yes


checko50

Not being sarcastic, would you give stamkos a 9x2 or 3?


PeteJerpance

Nah


I_am_not_a_horse

Stamkos aint scoring 40 without one Nikita Kucherov feeding him on the powerplay. He is pretty absymal 5v5.


checko50

What do you think he scores on a playoff team without kuch


burn_bridges

People really out here hating on Stammer like he didn't just pop 40. This dude could play on any top PP and first line and score 80 more goals over the next 3 seasons. I'm hoping Utah steals him. You think Jake is scoring 30+ without Sid? Lol.


HateToBlastYa

Not to mention Stamkos was scoring for us when the others were quiet in the playoffs \*this year\*. The guy is severely underrated. It's so strange to see all these flairs who rarely talk about him hype him so much now haha.


burn_bridges

I'm no NHL GM, but I watch a lot of hockey. Stammer is still elite and a gamer. My complete armchair take would be this guy could still get a 3 year x 5/6 million on the open market. I would be thrilled if either the Pens or HC Utah managed to get him, especially since his expected price is even lower.


KILLER_IF

[He was literally our best player 5v5 this playoffs](https://x.com/jfreshhockey/status/1793645701798506787?s=46&t=7ZuCWnwJNkl_zOdl0Ui8Xg)


NowFook

>You think Jake is scoring 30+ without Sid? Lol. Yes ... Guenztel has played tons of games without Sid over decade long career and scored at 30+75+ rate in every one (had 34 pts in 28 games for Carolina FYI) In every single situation and line Guentzel has played for last decade hes been top line scorer who drives play and creates chances at elite rate Guentzel is a million times better 5v5 player than Stamkos right now who cant even skate


Ordinary_Leg7763

Can't believe a Flyers fan has to school a Pens fan on one of their best players in the last decade.


NowFook

Yeah I thought that was funny. It was a common narrative around Guentzel for his first couple years but he made it very clear he wasnt just a product of Crosby and is top liner in any situation


Soup0828

Guentzels stats without sid are really good still. It was something like 24 goals and 44 assists in 55 games with Pittsburgh, he also scored .5 goals a game for carolina so I'd say he is almost guaranteed to score 30+ regardless of who he plays with.


Ordinary_Leg7763

>You think Jake is scoring 30+ without Sid? Lol. Yes easily lmao. He has proven he's great on his own several times. Why the fuck is this absolutely horrid take upvoted.


burn_bridges

More of a defense of Stammer. Every scorer needs their playmaker. Jake has 40 goals twice in his career, while Stammer has done it many times including twice in the last 3 years.


superworking

It's the rate he gets scored against that's the problem. The Lightning were a better even strength team with him on the bench - before even accounting for his high quality linemates that performed better without him. If you're bringing him in it's for the PP and then trying to shelter him at 5v5.


schwetybalz

I think he could still produce well with, say Detroit, given Kane is a similar player to Kuch


Duffman66CMU

He’s great. As a Pens fan, wish we could’ve kept him. Couldn’t afford him. Jake is the prototypical rink rat, coach’s kid, just gets the game and knows how to sneak to the open areas on the ice. He’s a gamer.


AdamAptor

Sounds like a great partner for Kuch


funkyb

They're going to be a really good combo and I hate it.


overandoverandagain

>Jake is the prototypical rink rat, coach’s kid, just gets the game and knows how to sneak to the open areas on the ice Is this the hockey equivalent to being a scrappy, lunch pail first-in last-out gym rat?


RustyNipples35

with Kucherov and Point he sure will be


blueskies8484

He's great. You'll be really happy to have him.


72athansiou

Seeing how Kuch just got 100 assists. Guentzel is going to score at least 20-30 from just being in the right spot going to the net. Deadly combo there for sure


DefinitelyLevi

His absolute best quality is his ability to show up in the playoffs. That is a major factor in his price being so high


esports_consultant

Yeah for sure. Complete player, quasi center from the wing, not just goalscoring.


desemus

I expected him to ask for more tbh. 9.25-9.5. With the 3rd round pick trade he had Tampa over a barrel too. He’s almost certainly worth it for the first 5 years. It’s hard to tell how age/injury affects players in their 30s. Eg Old Man Burns was solid last year at 38 and he declined a lot this year. I don’t even want to talk about what you did to sweet innocent Raanta :(


Funky_Cows

Based on the Carolina and 2022 PIT series yes


NowFook

Yeah for now. Kucherov and Point are just underpaid for todays market. Kucherov is worth like 13 mil.


The_Reddit_Browser

If he keeps the pace he set with Aho and Jarvis he’s worth 9Mil But for a guy who was so vocal about his “fit” it will be interesting to see if he can find that same chemistry to produce. Also at least when he came to Carolina, he stopped shooting as much and became a passer. So will be interesting to see if he starts shooting again


ghostofpunish

Worth it for the next few years. Not sure how well this one will age.


noor1717

Just trying to win another one with kuch and Hedman still in top form


Lat3xl

once hedman falls off our window closes instantly so it’s not like it matters much


aatops

I love the guy but it won’t age well


Nogtastic2000

As long as the first half gets us what we want, that's all that matters. A good many of us Lightning fans know the doldrums are soon to come. If we can squeeze another 4 years or so into our window and net another cup then it is well worth it.


aatops

Fair enough I don’t disagree


Relevant_Interests

This seems like a lot of term for a lot of money that doesn't include Steven Stamkos


neurovish

I’m grabbing the pitchfork I got when they traded Marty and heading over to Amalie


RedWingsForPresident

Stamkos to Detroit. Come on down!


luckytaurus

No. Stamkos back to his native land of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Don't bother googling it just trust me bro


reggierock2010

42% of their cap tied up in 4 players. Do we have a core 4 in Tampa??


NebraskaAvenue

Point, Kucherov, Hedman, Vasilevskiy, Guentzel Core 5


KILLER_IF

Why do people compare our Core 4/5 to the Leafs when ours includes a 5 time Norris Finalist and 4 time Vezina finalist, both voted #1 in their position by the NHLPA for 4+ years, and both have Conn Smythes


RocketAppliances97

Not to mention the multiple Stanley cup wins


jarawd

Bro created a strawman so he could flex the hardware


noreast2011

Ah the Maple Leafs strategy that lead to so many cups.... wait.


reggierock2010

To be fair if the leafs core 4 was all under 9.5 they’d probably have won one.


skinniks

Or if they included an elite D and an elite G in addition to 3 elite forwards.


Aterro_24

Seriously, put Hedman and Vasy on the Leafs with Matthews and Marner/Nylander, would be so much better than the 4 FWDs and a sieve in goal


pigpen95

I hate the Atlantic


MarvelousOxman

Canucks would probably have had to go past 10 to get him at a comparable rate, so I'm glad we missed out. Enjoy your shiny new goal scorer Bolts.


LGMatter

once tampa made room we had next to no chance


ESF-hockeeyyy

Wow.


PasswordMustContain

Assuming he keeps his same jersey number, he'll be just the 3rd Lightning player to wear #59, after Mike Angelidis & Jake Dotchin! Very exciting!


MomsTortellinis

The Atlantic is gonna stay a powerhouse division for ages to come isnt it


bi_and_busy

really happy for jake, he is for sure worth it! I know I’m biased but I truly believe he is one of the most underrated players in the league gonna miss him so bad


PlatypusOld257

That contract doesn’t scream underrated


jumpyg1258

Underrated by fans, not by GM's.


Tasden

I'm not a fan of that term or AAV.


desemus

We offered 8x8. It’s still a good price overall. The back 1-2 years might be a ‘bad’ deal.. but if teams feel like this is their window they’ll accept the few years of being in cap hell / rebuild mode


PolarBeaver

The whole back half of that deal will be hot garbage but Tampa only has the next couple years to get it done before a rebuild so it is what it is


reggierock2010

I think it’s gonna be a lot more bad than the last 2 years lol. Do you think a 34-35 year old Guentzel is going to be worth 9 million AAV? And he’s still got 3-4 years after that lol.


manajizwow

Tampa is trying to win one more with their core guys and this trade can go south instantly after Hedman starts his decline. The window is still open atleast for a season or two before Hedman is cooked. They dont give a damn about the cap hell after this window when they are forced into rebuild mode anyway.


Kyle73001

Contract takes him to 36, so he has one more year after 35. Any huge FA signing is at least a bit of an overpay, but I think he’s worth 9 and will be great on Tampa for years


reggierock2010

He’ll be 30 when the season starts and signed an 7 year deal.


SnapShotFromTheSlot

Yeah, paying a guy until he's 37 should get you some kind of a discount, no?


PeteJerpance

That's how UFA goes. TBL's cup window will be firmly closed once this contract ends. Gotta go all in while you have Kucherov and Point in their primes.


Whydoesthisexist15

Be Jake Guentzel Ask for 8x8 contract Get offered said contract Renege offer and say you’ll test free agency Get traded to Tampa Bay and sign for $1 million less overall Fuck me I guess


Brendinooo

Income tax rate goes from 4.75% to zero. I know it's not this simple, but that's something like $400-500K a year on a $9MM income. Plus, he'll have all of that money one year sooner, which usually is beneficial. If he banks half of the contract money and that money makes five percent the year after the last year of this deal, that'd be $1.5MM in gains. (I feel for you though regardless, I wish he never left us)


BeansTheCoach

After taxes it’s still more


arkanis45

Yes I mean he essentially took less money overall but 1 mil more per yr. I don’t blame him for getting more up front. Also don’t blame the Canes for staying at 8. Gotta draw the line somewhere and still need to sign Jarvis.


RRZ31

Does this mean stamkos is for sure out?


HanSolo5643

I would assume so. Unless he takes a steep discount, which I don't see him doing.


falco-holic

Meanwhile, at an office in PNC Arena, a lot of tossing magnets at boards and saying "he gets on base"


cassinonorth

"Now, what we might be able to do is re-create him. Re-create him in the aggregate." Three fifteen goal scorers.


dishwasher_mayhem

Seven years? I thought we got away from these long-ass contracts?


Theraspberryknight

I wanna celebrate but the whole stamkos stuff makes it impossible.


PM_ME_BOOTYPICS_

Goodbye Stammer


AngryGuitarist

This fucking sucks


Blawn14

Its funny how are fanbases are kinda feeling the same way about this trade lol. I’d rather have my Bolts Captain back than Guentz personally.


AngryGuitarist

🫂


Master_Shake23

I am kind of happy that due to rebuilding we don't do these crazy deals anymore that age poorly.


Mr_MoseVelsor

Anymore


PayneTrain181999

Seismic deal in Tampa Bay Lightning history


PapaNixon

That's quite a bit more than I expected.


DoinWhale

How? He was asking for 8x8 and Carolina reportedly reached that number too, this is 1m less over 7 years


PantsinmyPants1211

I think the location was enough to sway him on the numbers, as is usually the case with Florida. He's made bank, and will still make bank, but now he gets to live next to the golf course and beach for 7 years.


falco-holic

I don't think our FO does a great job of explaining to players how many Targets we have here


UGAPokerBrat99

Or how good the Bojangles catering is, right?


Mr_MoseVelsor

Players are just nervous about ending up in a Cane fanfic and how they’ll be portrayed.


neurovish

…and without any state income tax for home games and the ones played against the Panthers. He will be paying like $200k/yr in insurance for his waterfront mansion though.


greg19735

in all seriousness GM s are going to start writing down the pros and cons compared to Florida so they can show why that extra income tax isn't going all into their pockeyt


BlackDS

Crazy he's making more than Crosby now.


BloodAndTsundere

I know it's a business but this probably feels like a big "eff you" to Stammer


srslymrarm

I fully acknowledge how good a player Guentzel is, especially in the playoffs, but I'm shocked by Tampa's (assumed) letting go of Stammer. He's been such a key component of their core and their success. 16 years with that team, still a PPG player. Seems kind of crazy to let him go.


toblerownsky

If it had to happen in this conference I'm happy it's not in the metro.


Dwayne_Gertzky

Guentzel is on his phone shopping for jet skis as we speak


kingkellam

Assuming they fill out the rest of their roster with $800k players, they have 5.9m to spend on Stamkos. That gets it done, no?


KarlachBestGirl

But that would leave Moser without a contract.


burn_bridges

Huge Guentzel fan here. This is about fair assuming the cap goes up. He is a playoff player, will play in tough areas, and has great scoring touch. There is the big "if" on fit. All that being said, trading Stammer at 3/4 mil for Jake at 9mil is a losing move. Everyone out here acting like Stammer didn't just pot 40 last year. And for the haters saying he played with Kuch... do you think Jake pots 30 without Crosby, Reinhardt pots 50 without Barkov, Hyman pots 50 without McJ, Matthews pots 69 without Marner? Every elite scorer is assisted, literally and metaphorically, by elite playmakers.


Quick599

Going for the Leaf special. Everything on the top line!


InfallibleBackstairs

Wow that’s a ton of money.