The Tampa Bay Lightning have traded Tyler Johnson and a 2023 second-round pick to the Chicago Blackhawks for Brent Seabrook.

This is yet another trade being made for purely (or at least mostly) salary cap reasons. The Lightning finally find a way to part with Johnson's contract (three more years at $5 million), while the Blackhawks find a taker for Seabrook's LTIR-bound contract (three more years at $6.875 million). The Blackhawks get a player and the incentive (a second-round pick to replace the one they lost in the Seth Jones trade) for taking on the player they can't put on LTIR, while the Bolts move out $5 million in cap space while taking on a contract they can move on LTIR.

The only direct fantasy implications involve Johnson. Here's a potential (at least as of this moment) Blackhawks lineup.

Johnson would slot in as the third-line center, behind Kirby Dach and Jonathan Toews. (Maybe the Hawks made this trade a season too late, given the Dach and Toews injuries?) Even though he had been buried down Tampa's lineup, he still played in all but one regular-season game and every playoff game in 2020-21. He was most recently a bottom-six forward and second-unit power-play option for the Lightning, which is something that shouldn't change significantly with the Blackhawks. A change of scenery might help the 30-year-old center get his career back on track anyway after declining productivity and a diminishing role over each of the past four seasons.

Perhaps anticipating this trade, the Hawks did not extend qualifying offers to Pius Suter or David Kampf. Adam Gaudette was not extended an offer either, but he and the Blackhawks were able to come to terms on a one-year deal.

One side note: If Marc-Andre Fleury decides to play for the Blackhawks, they will likely be over the cap with other RFAs and possibly UFAs yet to be signed. They may have to make a trade or other transaction in order for that to happen, so entering the first day of free agency there could be more to follow. Even Johnson is a possibility to be traded for that reason, which would take an Arizona-type deal of throwing in a draft pick with Johnson for absolutely nothing in return. So it’s more likely that Johnson stays in Chicago.   

Players this helps, in order:

Johnson

Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn (more likely to not have to be traded)

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Players this hurts, in order:

Gaudette

Strome

Kampf (if re-signed)