The Tampa Bay Lightning and pending unrestricted free agent Mikhail Sergachev haven't begun negotiations on a new contract, but the young blue-liner is confident a deal will get done once the NHL regains some normalcy.
"It's a little different obviously right now, but I'm trying to leave it to my agent (Mark Gandler)," Sergachev said Thursday, per NHL.com's Dan Rosen. "He's going to deal with it, I guess. But for me, I just want to continue the season, play and get better and see what happens. I feel like they're going to work out something. I have a good agent."
Sergachev's entry-level contract is set to expire at season's end. He's one of five RFA's on the Bolts' roster this offseason, most notably joined by burgeoning two-way center Anthony Cirelli and fellow defenseman Erik Cernak.
Tampa Bay currently has over $76 million committed to its 2020-21 roster. Given the uncertainty of next season's salary cap - this year's limit is $81.5 million - the Lightning may be forced to pull off a trade in order to make things work financially.
"We'll just wait and see what the salary cap is going to be like, if we're going to resume to play or not," Sergachev said. "It's still up in the air. We're kind of in limbo right now. I wish I knew and I wish I could tell you something."
Sergachev was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens ninth overall in 2016 and was acquired by the Lightning one year later in exchange for Jonathan Drouin. Before the league went on pause March 12, Sergachev had notched a career-high 10 goals in 70 games while seeing his ice time rise to more than 20 minutes per night compared to 17:55 last season.
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