TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning are starting to see the reality of being a championship team with salary cap issues.
On Saturday afternoon, the Lightning reached a deal with the Rangers, trading forward Barclay Goodrow in exchange for a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft.
Goodrow was a key piece of the Lightning’s back-to-back championship roster. He played on the “gritty” line with center Yanni Gourde and fellow wing Blake Coleman. With Coleman, Goodrow also played on the team’s top penalty-kill unit.
Coach Jon Cooper sang his praises earlier in the postseason, calling him the team’s “Jeep,” who can get the team through the “mud” with “four-wheel drive.”
Earlier this week, Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said Goodrow was one of the players on the team who deserved a raise, but he wasn’t sure he would be able to give it to him.
Goodrow is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, so he did not fall into the category of players who would be exposed in the Seattle expansion draft. He’ll enter free agency on July 28 with the potential to see a long-term deal if he hits the open market, according to Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston.
Goodrow played in 55 games for the Lightning this year, scoring six goals and notching 14 assists during the regular season. En route to hoisting the team’s second straight Cup, Goodrow scored two goals with four assists. BriseBois said Tuesday that the forward played with a broken hand this postseason.
The Lightning also signed defenseman Fredrik Claesson, who has appeared in 161 career NHL games over six seasons, to a one-year, two-way contract. He could have been a free agent. No financial terms were available. He played two games with Tampa Bay after coming from San Jose in a trade April 12.
