October 10, 2020:
Johnson has cleared waivers on Saturday. The news comes as somewhat of a surprise considering his production, but it speaks to the tight salary cap situation.
Some had speculated that placing Johnson on waivers could also be a way for Tampa to get around his No Trade Clause. The thought was tat Tampa could have a deal in place where a club might have agreed to pick him up off waivers, and then that club makes a separate deal for ‘future considerations’ with Tampa. Clearly, that was not the case.
The Lightning will now have to get creative in an attempt to move the forward. He has four years left on his contract with an AAV of $5 million dollars per season.
Darren Dreger notes that teams have interest in Johnson, but at the same time, aren’t interested in relieving the cap pressure of the Stanley Cup Champion without either the Lightning eating a portion of the money or including a legit sweetener to make a deal.
October 9, 2020:
As per a report by a number of sources as 2020 NHL free agency opened up, the Tampa Bay Lightning have placed forward Tyler Johnson on waivers. The team tried to trade Johnson but couldn’t find a taker when it came to his contract. As such waivers was the only option left.
Pierre LeBrun reported, “Johnson’s camp had extended his list of teams to 7-8 for Tampa but the Lightning couldn’t get a trade done. Now he’s on waivers. He’s got 4 x 5M aav left although his cash salary for next season is $3.75 M. Seattle-bound in a year?”
There’s a potential for a team to pick him up as claiming him on waivers means you don’t give up any assets and he’s essentially a free agent signing. That said, if no team was willing to take on his four years with a $5 million cap hit it seems unlikely a team does anything until wait to see if they can get him for less.
Next: Wayne Simmonds Signs With Toronto Maple Leafs
