Tampa wants to keep Ondrej Palat, Nick Paul, and Jan Rutta.
All three players could soon hit the free-agent market.
I have already contacted their agents and held preliminary talks.
I know all three would like to stay here and we would like to keep them, said Julien BriseBois.
The 31-year-old forward Palata has played for the Lightning since 2013. He scored 21 (11+10) points in 23 games with 3 game-winning pucks last playoffs.
His contract, which expires in July, has a cap hit of $5.3 million.
The 31-year-old defenseman Rutta, joined the team as the 2018/19 season progressed. In the playoffs, he scored 5 (1+4) points in 17 games. His current cap hit is $1.3 million.
The 27-year-old forward Paul became a player for the Lightning at this year’s deadline as a result of trade from Ottawa. In the playoffs, he scored 9 (5+4) points in 23 games. His current cap hit is $1.35 million.
According to CapFriendly, the team’s payroll for next season is $84.5 million with a salary cap of $82.5 million.
With that, defenseman Brent Seabrook ($6.75 million) will be placed on the injured list for the long haul. At that rate, Lightning has a $77.6 million cap hit.