NHL Rumors: 3 Tampa Bay Lightning Who Aren't Expected Back Next Season

The Tampa Bay Lightning were eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and now roster changes are expected to begin at the NHL Draft. GM Julien BriseBois isn't ever shy to make significant changes to this roster, and with the disappointment of this season, look for some moves to come this summer.

Here's three Lightning who aren't expected back next season:

Cam Atkinson

Atkinson had a tough year trying to stay healthy and only managed to appear in 39 games, scoring four times and finishing the year with nine points. At 35 years old, this could be it for Atkinson, who has put up an impressive career for an undersized winger. It's unfortunate it didn't work out better for him in Tampa Bay this year, but look for BriseBois to move in another direction to add some veterans to his lineup this summer.

Luke Glendening

Another veteran who likely isn't in the cards this offseason, Glendening was everything as advertised for the Lightning this season, winning faceoffs, killing penalties, and playing a defensive brand of hockey down the middle of the ice for Jon Cooper's hockey club. Glendening averaged just 9:43 of ice-time in the playoffs and finished the first round with two points while winning 53% of his faceoffs. At 36 years old we'll have to wait and see what the future holds for the veteran two-way pivot.

Jonas Johansson 

The 29-year-old goaltender won nine of his 19 appearances, posting a 3.13 goals against average, and a .895 save percentage. While he was a reasonable backup for the league minimum, it became quite obvious in the playoffs that Andrei Vasilevskiy was worn down, which is likely due to his heavy regular season work load. Look for BriseBois to find a better suited goaltender to take some of the burden off his starter's hands during the regular season.

Photo credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images