Tampa Bay Lightning Trade Rumors: Kucherov, Bishop, Nesterov, Namestnikov

The Tampa Bay Lightning need to make a big trade to make it under the salary cap for the 2016-17 NHL season. The Lightning were rumored to be shopping goalie Ben Bishop at the draft to solve their salary cap issue. That trade never materialized and the market for goaltenders has shrunk considerably since the draft.

The Lightning have $8.5 million in cap space remaining with restricted free agents Nikita Kucherov, Nikita Nesterov and Vladislav Namestnikov left unsigned. Kucherov's expired contract had an annual cap hit of $700,000 and he will want a massive raise.

Vladimir Tarasenko of the St Louis Blues is a comparable player to Kucherov. Tarasenko signed a 8 year contract worth $7.5M AAV. Kucherov's next contract will be in the same ballpark.

It's unclear who GM Steve Yzerman is going to trade to make it under the salary cap.