- BriseBois says the Lightning will let Corey Perry and Oliver Bjorkstrand reach free agency July 1
- Tampa Bay opens the market with roughly $13.17 million in cap space
- Read below for what’s next for the 41-year-old Perry and Bjorkstrand’s price tag
The Tampa Bay Lightning are letting two of their wingers walk.
General manager Julien BriseBois told reporters after the 2026 NHL Draft that Corey Perry and Oliver Bjorkstrand will hit the open market when free agency opens July 1, per Pro Hockey Rumors. BriseBois is still working on a deal with defenseman Declan Carlile, the only other unrestricted free agent left on the roster.
That leaves Tampa Bay with about $13.17 million in cap space to spend elsewhere. The Lightning have already surfaced as a Zach Werenski trade suitor, so most of that money figures to go toward the blue line.
Perry hits the market at 41, facing the same retirement question he has answered every summer since 2023.
He has survived on one-year deals through Chicago, Edmonton, Los Angeles and now Tampa Bay, where he landed at the March trade deadline. He still produced, closing out 2025-26 with 17 goals and 37 points in 72 games, his best output since 2021-22.
Perry built his late-career reputation as a Cup Final regular. He reached the final five times in six years before this spring, when Montreal bounced the Lightning in a seven-game first round.
He has also made clear he wants a 22nd NHL season. His last contract carried a $2 million cap hit, and another depth deal in that range looks realistic.
Replacing Bjorkstrand is the tougher puzzle. The 30-year-old put up 12 goals and 32 points in a third-line role last season after Tampa acquired him at the 2025 deadline.
Bjorkstrand reeled off four straight 40-point seasons before the move, including a career-high 59 in 2023-24. Coming off a $5.4 million cap hit, he could push toward $6 million on the open market. That would swallow nearly half of Tampa’s space and likely come with second-line minutes the Lightning can’t offer.
Conor Geekie is in line for a bigger role, and BriseBois now has the cap room to rebuild the middle six around him.
