The Tampa Bay Lightning are reuniting with a well-known face after pulling off a commerce earlier than the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline.
The Lightning are one of many prime groups within the Atlantic Division and the Eastern Conference, and they’re thought of one of many prime Stanley Cup contenders. Despite having only a few prime draft picks and wage cap house, the crew wanted some offensive additions.
They discovered that in winger Corey Perry. Elliotte Friedman was the primary to report that the Lightning despatched a second-round choose to the Los Angeles Kings for Perry. This marks his second stint in Tampa Bay after spending the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 campaigns there. The 40-year-old winger is without doubt one of the most achieved lively gamers within the NHL, with one Stanley Cup and 963 factors in 1,442 video games.
2nd rounder in return
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) March 6, 2026
Perry Gets Another Shot at Stanley Cup
Despite having over 1,400 NHL regular-season and 237 postseason contests in his profession, it has been practically twenty years because the storied veteran lifted the Stanley Cup. He’s come extraordinarily shut a number of occasions since, however now he receives one other alternative along with his commerce to Tampa Bay.
He joined the Kings this previous offseason with excessive hopes. The group had ambitions of being a Stanley Cup contender, however their summer season additions by no means clicked. Perry was arguably their finest addition, with 11 objectives and 28 factors in 50 contests.
Now, he brings that physicality and net-front presence again to Tampa. He’ll increase their energy play and bottom-six strains, and it solely will increase the crew’s probabilities of successful the East.
Tampa Continues to Disregard Draft Picks
The Lightning have made one factor clear through the years of their championship pursuits: they don’t care about draft picks. To their credit score, it is a technique that has largely labored out. When they received their back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021, they parted with first-round picks to usher in key gamers like Blake Coleman.
That’s the case as soon as once more for the Lightning. After this take care of the Kings, the Lightning will not choose till the third spherical of the 2026 NHL Draft. Not solely that, however they’ve additionally already parted with their 2027 first-round choose, as they despatched that to the Seattle Kraken as a part of their deal for Oliver Bjorkstrand.
The outcomes do not lie. The Lightning have been a championship contender for the higher a part of a decade. Utilizing this strategy, they’ve acquired confirmed expertise and maintained one of many NHL’s prime franchises. They are hoping that methodology pays off as soon as extra throughout this postseason run.
