Tampa Bay Lightning Roster Overview: Every 2025-26 Lightning Player’s Contract Situation & More.

This week’s newsletter breaks down the Lightning roster: contracts, trade clauses, salary cap room, & more.

Here are a few standout details:

• Nine players are eligible for contract extensions come July 1st (Kucherov, Goncalves, James, Holmberg, Geekie, Lilleberg, D’Astous, Girgensons, Johansson)

• Eight players have full trade/no movement clauses for the 2026-27 season (Cirelli, Gourde, Cernak, Hagel, Hedman, McDonagh, Point, & Guentzel).

• Four players are set to become free agents unless re-signed by the Bolts before July 1st (Raddysh, Bjorkstrand, Perry, Carlile).

• Point, Cirelli, Guentzel, Cernak, Gourde, Hagel, & Moser all have four-plus seasons left on their current contract.

• The Lightning currently have 13M+ in available cap space to work with for the upcoming 2026-27 season.

Subscribe For Free Weekly Lightning Newsletters

Here's the final newsletter of the 2025-26 NHL season. This has been a blast, Bolts Nation.

As always, you can subscribe for free here: https://boltsbreakdown.substack.com/embed

——————————————————————————————————————————

The Tampa Bay Lightning’s 2025-26 season has officially come to a close. In stunning, history-making fashion, the Lightning dropped game seven to the Montreal Canadiens despite outshooting them 29-9. It is the first time in NHL history a team has won game seven with less than 10 shots on net.

There are countless questions & endless emotions.

Every loss stings, yes; but, this one may sting a little extra.

It’s because the expectation was there; the standard was there. This Tampa Bay Lightning team was battle-tested & hungrier than ever…they believed they would prevail. They had their eyes on another Stanley Cup championship, and the path was set.

It’s also because of the way they lost. Two unfortunate, unlucky bounces ended in the back of the Lightning’s net to wash away an otherwise brilliant performance. The Lightning held the Canadiens without a shot in the second period of game seven…but none of it mattered.

The Lightning lost. They’re out. And it sucks.

"This team was different; it was different. They deserve better than what has happened to them. It's too bad because of how hard they've worked and committed and just did everything we asked and, then, to go out…they gave everything they possibly could and we just came up short."

- Jon Cooper

"You give up zero shots in the second period, three shots in the third period, and you lose a hockey game. Like, you can't look at one guy in the room and say you didn't do your thing…It's a tough feeling, but that's the reality of hockey. It's game 7. You lose. You're out."

- Brandon Hagel

Now, as fans, our attention turns to the offseason. This week, we’ll hear from the players & coaching staff as they clean out the dressing room & officially close the season. Then, we have about 150 days without Lightning hockey—the 2026-27 NHL season is set to begin in late September.

Don’t worry, Bolts Breakdown will be active over these next 150 days to help Bolts Nation stay involved with Lightning hockey. There will be lots to cover over the coming days & weeks, but when the offseason lull creeps in, be on the lookout for player spotlights, history of the team, & more.

As we move along, I’ll share more about what you can expect. For now, stay tuned for continued weekly newsletters.

Let’s put a bow on it…here’s the final stats & recaps on the 2025-26 season:

Random Findings:

Jake Guentzel scored his 43rd career playoff goal on Wednesday, which places him in 11th place in NHL history among U.S.-born players. Since joining the Bolts, Guentzel has 14 playoff points; that is the most of any Lightning skaters in that span.

Andrei Vasilevskiy earned his 2nd career shutout in an elimination game on Friday; the only other goaltender in Lightning history to accomplish that feat is Dwayne Roloson (shutouts in R1 GM7 2015 & SCF GM7 2015).

Gage Goncalves scored the overtime game winner on Friday. He is the third player in franchise history to score an overtime goal to stave off elimination (Brayden Point R1 GM6 2022 & Martin St. Louis SCF GM6 2004). Goncalves is also just the sixth player since 1944 to evade elimination in Montreal by scoring an overtime goal.

Dominic James is the first Lightning rookie in franchise history to score a goal in a GM7. He is the fifth Lightning rookie to score multiple goals in a single series (Ross Colton had 2 goals in R1 2021, Cedric Paquette had 2 in SCF 2015, Ondrej Palat had 2 in R1 2014, & Paul Ranger had 2 in R2 2006).

Team Statistics:

This Past Week:

Power Play: 11.1% (7th)

Penalty Kill: 100% (t-1st)

FOW%: 43.3% (12th)

SF/GP: 34.0 (1st)

SA/GP: 21.0 (2nd)

GF/GP: 1.33 (12th)

GA/GP: 1.67 (5th)

Hits/60: 28.88 (10th)

Blocked Shots/60: 14.60 (7th)

Postseason Rankings:

Power Play: 17.2% (7th)

Penalty Kill: 80.8% (12th)

FOW%: 44.4% (14th)

SF/GP: 28.0 (9th)

SA/GP: 22.3 (1st)

GF/GP: 2.14 (12th)

GA/GP: 2.29 (6th)

Hits/60: 30.72 (14th)

Blocked Shots/60: 13.33 (13th)

Season Rankings:

Power Play: 20.7% (17th)

Penalty Kill: 82.6% (3rd)

FOW%: 47.4% (28th)

SF/GP: 28.1 (14th)

SA/GP: 26.7 (8th)

GF/GP: 3.54 (4th)

GA/GP: 2.71 (3rd)

Hits/60: 19.82 (16th)

Blocked Shots/60: 12.14 (29th)

Player Statistics:

This Week:

Goals:

Dominic James (2)

Jake Guentzel (1)

Gage Goncalves (1)

Assists:

Gage Goncalves (2)

Gourde & Hagel (1)

D’Astous & James (1)

Points:

Gage Goncalves (3)

Dominic James (3)

Gourde, Guentzel, Hagel, & D’Astous (1)

Shots:

Nikita Kucherov (17)

Darren Raddysh (14)

Guentzel & Hagel (11)

Plus/Minus:

Yanni Gourde (+1)

Jake Guentzel (+1)

Point & Moser (+1)

Hits:

Zemgus Girgensons (15)

Nick Paul (8)

Raddysh, Hagel, & Lilleberg (7)

Blocked Shots:

Ryan McDonagh (8)

JJ Moser (6)

Oliver Bjorkstrand (5)

Faceoff Wins:

Anthony Cirelli (30)

Nick Paul (15)

Brayden Point (12)

Postseason Leaders:

Goals:

Brandon Hagel (6)

Guentzel & James (2)

Kucherov, Point, Raddysh, Goncalves, Moser (1)

Assists:

Jake Guentzel (6)

Nikita Kucherov (5)

Cirelli, Goncalves, & Moser (2)

Points:

Jake Guentzel (8)

Brandon Hagel (8)

Nikita Kucherov (6)

Shots:

Nikita Kucherov (31)

Darren Raddysh (28)

Jake Guentzel (21)

Plus/Minus:

Brandon Hagel (+6)

Anthony Cirelli (+5)

Guentzel & Moser (+3)

Hits:

Zemgus Girgensons (27)

Nick Paul (21)

Emil Lilleberg (18)

Blocked Shots:

Ryan McDonagh (14)

JJ Moser (14)

Erik Cernak (11)

Faceoff Wins:

Anthony Cirelli (83)

Nick Paul (36)

Brayden Point (24)

Regular Season Leaders:

Goals:

Nikita Kucherov (44)

Jake Guentzel (38)

Brandon Hagel (36)

Assists:

Nikita Kucherov (86)

Jake Guentzel (50)

Darren Raddysh (48)

Points:

Nikita Kucherov (130)

Jake Guentzel (88)

Brandon Hagel (74)

Shots:

Nikita Kucherov (231)

Jake Guentzel (220)

Brandon Hagel (214)

Plus/Minus:

Nikita Kucherov (+43)

JJ Moser (+41)

Anthony Cirelli (+38)

Hits:

Zemgus Girgensons (195)

Yanni Gourde (115)

Erik Cernak (112)

Blocked Shots:

Erik Cernak (99)

JJ Moser (91)

Ryan McDonagh (76)

Faceoff Wins:

Anthony Cirelli (518)

Yanni Gourde (396)

Nick Paul (300)

——————————————————————————————————————————

Read the full newsletter for more (game recaps, trivia, etc.): https://boltsbreakdown.substack.com/p/the-lightnings-season-ends

GoBolts!