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Has Philippe Myers Found a Home with the Lightning, Not the Leafs?

Philippe Myers has a contract with advantage if he’s bought out? Will the Tampa Bay Lightning do that? Will the Toronto Maple Leafs sign him?

Toronto Maple Leafs’ fans know Philippe Myers because he was loaned to the AHL Toronto Marlies during the season. He played well there and there was some hope that he might somehow be able to find his way to the Maple Leafs roster. However, for that to happen, he would have had to be bought out by the Nashville Predators or another team.

That might seem like an odd thing to do, but Myers was signed to an odd contract. Myers has a year left on his current contract with a $2.55 million salary-cap hit. Because Myers is 25 years old and his contract is back-loaded, any team that adds him can actually create cap space by buying him out.

While Myers was with the AHL Marlies, he scored seven points in 16 games. During his time with the Predators, he has scored four points. However, he also blocked 17 shots and registered 50 hits in 27 games. The attraction with Myers is that he’s a rare right-side defenseman with size (at 6-foot-5 and 210 pounds. He plays with a physical edge.

Related: Laine & Blue Jackets Not Even Close to Contract Agreement

Myers Was Traded Today to the Lightning

Today it was announced that the Tampa Bay Lightning had acquired Philippe Myers and Grant Mismash from the Predators in exchange for Ryan McDonagh. Obviously, McDonagh was the big name in this trade (as NHL TradeTalk had reported earlier. See the link at the bottom of the page).

However, Myers is an interesting player for two reasons. As noted earlier, he’s a right-shot defenseman with size. Second, Myers has a unique contract that makes him an immediate benefit if he’s bought out. As noted, the team that buys him out – for example, now if he’s bought out by the Lightning, Tampa Bay would have a $617,000 credit next season and then turn around and owe $633,000 in 2023-24 season.

Related: Maple Leafs Should Have Interest in Philippe Myers

News Is that the Lightning Might Not Buy Myers Out

However, unique contract or not, it might be that the Lightning will choose not to buy out Myers’ contract. Tampa Bay’s general manager Julien BriseBois shared with the media that he sees enough upside in Myers that it seems the team might choose not to buy out the big defenseman.

Specifically, BriseBois noted that “Our plan at this point is to work with Philippe Myers. We’ve liked him going back to his junior days…He’s only 25 years old. He’s a 6-foot-5 defenseman with size and some physicality. He’s a quality skater…He has a huge shot.”

That might be a smoke screen, but it’s also possible.

Good for the Lightning if they are taking a chance on Myers. However, and he was on my radar for a couple of weeks or so, I was interested in seeing if the Maple Leafs might somehow get a chance to pick him up cheaply.

We’ll see what the Lightning will do. My money is on them buying him out.

Related: Lightning Trade Ryan McDonagh to Predators

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