Anaheim Ducks
Trade Idea: Ducks Move Kesler For Tyler Johnson in Cap Space Deal
The Tampa Bay Lightning should be reaching out to the Anaheim Ducks to see if a deal can be done including Kesler and Johnson.
No doubt, the Tampa Bay Lightning need to figure out a way to move salary off the books so they can take care of additional restricted free agent business. With two contracts (Erik Cernak and Anthony Cirelli) left to get signed and no cap space in which to sign them, the Bolts say they have irons in the fire but no one quite knows for sure what general Julien BriseBois is working on.
Related: Tampa Bay Lightning Working on Two Big Trades
One player that gets mentioned as a solution for Tampa is Tyler Johnson. The veteran forward was placed on waivers earlier this offseason but no one in the NHL jumped. His $5 million salary for the next four seasons was too much for another team to swallow without moving salary back to Tampa and as such, Johnson is still with the team.
The Athletic’s Eric Stephens recently took a closer look at how the Lightning might move Johnson’s deal and as part of a recent mailbag segment was asked if the Anaheim Ducks might be a player in such a deal.
Stephens not only noted the Ducks could create some space to add Johnson, but he believes there’s a creative way to make a deal work for both sides. He suggested moving Ryan Kesler’s contract back to Tampa Bay. He writes:
I see the logic in moving Kesler’s contract (and another cap-related asset) for Johnson as it would give Tampa the ability to stash it on long-term injury reserve and open extra space to utilize. But the Ducks can also benefit from LTIR and put it into play during the season. It’s a hint Bob Murray has lobbed.
The Ducks may also ask the Lightning to retain some of Johnson’s salary in any deal, lessening the blow of adding $5 million to their books. If Tampa agreed, it might not give BriseBois quite enough room to sign both Cernak and Cirelli, but it would certainly be a starting point from which to make other moves to get to where they need to be.
Ducks Like Johnson Too
Stephens adds that the Ducks not only could do the move, but the team likes the player. He says, “I think the Ducks do like him as a player and he’d beef up their forward grouping but surely not at the $5 million cap charge he has for four more seasons.”
Johnson is a player who posted four 20-goal seasons and hit 50 points a couple times. He’s a bit removed from that kind of production, but if the Ducks could get him for around $2.5 -$3 million, there are much worse ways to spend that money.
The trick becomes the no-trade and no-move clauses that are part of both player’s contracts.
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