Chicago Blackhawks acquire Lightning's Tyler Johnson

The Chicago Blackhawks have made another trade, acquiring Tyler Johnson from the Tampa Bay Lightning, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. The Lightning will also be sending a 2023 second-round pick, while Chicago will send Brent Seabrook’s contract back to Tampa Bay. Seabrook is not expected to play again, meaning his contract can be moved to long-term injured reserve. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that there was no salary retained in the deal.

Not only does moving Johnson’s contract open up $5 million in cap space for the Lightning, but acquiring Seabrook’s deal will actually give them even more flexibility to operate in long-term injured reserve once again. Managing the cap without accruing any space during the regular season will be tricky, but the Lightning have shown they are more than willing to operate in that manner, acquiring dead contracts such as those of Anders Nilsson and Marian Gaborik in the past. The Blackhawks now essentially have around $6 million in cap space, although the machinations of LTIR will force them into very specific moves as the season approaches.

Still, ridding itself of Yanni Gourde through the expansion draft and Johnson through this trade has basically fixed Tampa Bay’s cap issues, giving the Lightning some wiggle room to fill out the depth chart.

Things have changed quickly in Chicago, as now Seabrook and fellow franchise icon Duncan Keith are both gone from the organization. Just a year ago, Seabrook’s contract looked like one of the worst in the league, but now that he’s not expected to play again, it actually became an asset for the Blackhawks. They added a second-round pick while also landing a player who can help them next season without giving up anything of real value.

Johnson, 30, has three years left on his contract and should actually see an offensive uptick with increased usage in Chicago. Buried behind a long list of offensive talents in Tampa Bay, he’s not so far removed from the 29-goal season he had in 2018-19. In fact, there was a time when Johnson was among the Lightning’s best players, even leading Tampa Bay in scoring with 72 points in 2014-15. While that might be a lofty goal to reach again, he’s still an effective player who should help the Blackhawks compete for the playoffs next season. Add in that he’s now coming off back-to-back Stanley Cup championships and his $5 million cap hit starts to look awfully reasonable.