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The Tampa Bay Lightning acquired the rights to soon-to-be free agent winger Jake Guentzel from the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday in exchange for a 2025 third-round draft pick.

Guentzel, 29, is set to become an unrestricted free agent on Monday when the free-agent window officially opens. By trading Guentzel, the Lightning have an exclusive window to sign Guentzel before he hits the open market.

This gives the Lightning the opportunity to sign Guentzel to a maximum seven-year contract.

During the second round of the NHL Draft on Saturday, there was speculation that Guentzel could be a candidate for the Lightning. That speculation intensified after the Lightning traded defenseman Mikhail Sergachev to Utah and forward Tanner Jeannot to the Los Angeles Kings.

By separating Sergachev and Jeannot, the Lightning’s salary cap increased from $5.335 million at the beginning of the day to $16.5 million at the end of the day.

At first, it appeared the Lightning had used that flexibility to sign captain Steven Stamkos, who reached the 40-goal mark for the seventh time in his career, to a long-term contract extension. However, general manager Julien BriseBois told reporters he spoke with Stamkos’ agent after the trades but did not increase the offer, which reportedly has an average annual value of just $3 million.

BriseBois said the plan for Stamkos is to test free agency.

“I understand that when you’re so close to being a free agent, it can be tempting to see what the market has to offer,” BriseBois said. “That was a risk I took by not going to Steven a year earlier to try to tie him down and get a deal done.”

BriseBois later addressed the team’s additional salary cap space, saying they could opt for either quantity or quality.

“I don’t know how we’re going to do that yet,” BriseBois said. “I know the priority is going to be to address our forward group.”

If the Lightning were to make a deal with Guentzel, they would be getting a player younger than Stamkos, who finished the season with 30 goals in 67 games punctuated by injuries while playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Hurricanes, who signed him at the trade deadline.

Guentzel, who has scored 30 goals four times and has scored 20-plus goals in seven consecutive seasons, would be another dangerous winger for the Lightning to complement a forward group that features six players scoring 20-plus goals in the 2023-24 season.

That group includes 2019 Hart Memorial Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, Nicholas Paul, Brandon Hagel and, of course, Stamkos, whose time at the only club he has ever known may soon be coming to an end.