Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois is confident that he'll be able to work out a contract this summer with star forward Brayden Point.
Point, who has recorded 22 goals and 49 points so far in his third NHL season, will be one of over a dozen premium pending restricted free agents likely to command big bucks this summer, which brings the threat of an offer sheet.
But BriseBois isn't concerned about that possibility:
#tblightning GM Julien BriseBois held court for half hour. Lot of good stuff. BriseBois said he's "not concerned at all" about potential offer sheets this summer, on Brayden Point. Will find a way to keep the player. No talks until this summer though though
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) December 29, 2018
While BriseBois thinks he'll be able to ink Point long term, the first-year GM will likely have to do some finagling to make his roster fit under the salary cap.
The Lightning are expected to have roughly $9 million in cap space next season, and Point, Adam Erne, Cedric Paquette, Slater Koekkoek, and Danick Martel will be RFAs. In addition, Anton Stralman, Braydon Coburn, and Dan Girardi will be unrestricted free agents.
It's also likely that, given his production, Point could demand a contract worth about $7.5 million per season.
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