Tampa Bay Lightning's 3 Worst Contracts of 2023-24

The Tampa Bay Lightning have their core locked in for a number of years and typically find depth and secondary scoring like no other team. This season has been a little tougher, but they have managed and are rolling right now. There are a few contracts they wish were better though.

Tanner Jeannot

Not only did the Lightning give up a lot to get Tanner Jeannot from the Nashville Predators, he didn't find his scoring touch that he had in his rookie year. While he brings the physicality no matter what, he has turned into more of a fourth line player for the team this season. Jeannot has been injured, but his contract is a bit high for how much he actually contributes overall, especially considering the Lightning will be tight on cap space once again next season. He still has one more year left at $2.665 million AAV with six goals and 13 points in 47 games.

Matt Dumba

Matt Dumba was overpaid in Arizona, but the team had lots of cap space and needed someone to fill a hole and be trade bait at the deadline. He ended up fitting both of those, but didn't fetch the Coyotes very much. The Lightning missed out on their intended target in Noah Hanifin and had to settle for Dumba. The team could take on his entire $3.9 million AAV cap hit since Mikhail Sergachev landing on the LTIR opened up a lot of space, but Dumba isn't worth that much. While he can log minutes, he isn't exactly that effective. He's not the best defensively and is not the offensive threat he once was.

Philippe Myers

The Lightning made a mistake by bringing Philippe Myers back for more than league minimum. It just wasted some much needed cap space. He is on a one-year, $1.4 million AAV deal, but has spent the majority of the season in the AHL, playing 53 games in the minors and only five in the NHL. Anyone making more than $1 million and not playing in the NHL is a waste of cap space and a contract. Since the Lightning's organizational depth on defense has proven to be even better than they thought, Myers hasn't been needed.