Tampa Bay, FL - It was a crazy off-season in the BRHL this season as many believe the players cashed in on their paydays. Lots of one year contracts were handed out which seemed to drive the price up on some of targets GM Eric Ferraro had his sights set on. There were a lot of holes on the roster that needed to be addressed coming into the off-season. All eyes in Tampa Bay were on Eric Ferraro as he entered into his first off-season not knowing what to expect.

At first, it seemed like teams would be pretty easy-going as the Bolts took Keith Yandle early at only $4 million a season. Shortly after though a bidding war began for top centermen Jeff Carter. The Bolts went all the way up to $10m a season for Carter but were once again quickly outbid. At this point, they focused on filling other holes. In came three defensively responsible players in Tomas Plekanec (4.25m), Nikolay Kulemin (2.1m) and Torrey Mitchell (1.5m). With a defensemen signed and some much needed depth added in the bottom 6, there were only two more positions to fill. A need for a winger was important, but not as important as a #1 Centermen. Jeff Carter, Alex Steen, Joe Pavelski and Jason Spezza were all still available and bid on by Tampa Bay. They were priced out of the Carter and Pavelski sweepstakes pretty quickly and turned their attention to Steen and Spezza. After Columbus put in an offer of 8.5m a season on Steen, it came apparent that putting an offer on Spezza at a lower salary made more sense. This is where the first mistake of the off-season happened.

Steen signed for 8.5m, while the Bolts had an offer on Spezza for 6.8m. Just before Spezza came to an agreement, both the Pens, Hawks and Flyers swept in. In the end, due to desperation GM Eric Ferraro laid a final offer of $12 million on the table. The deal was made final and they got their centermen.

Justin Williams was brought in to play in a top 6 role, signing for $6.5m a season. In total, the Bolts spent around $28 million dollars in cap this off-season, an off-season which GM Eric Ferraro claimed to be a success.

Opening day rosters expect to look like this..

Huberdeau - Spezza - Palmieri
Schwartz - Staal - Williams
Kulemin - Plekanec - Nelson
Mitchell - Haula - Agostino/Vesey

Yandle - de Haan
Dumba - Pesce
Forbort - Melichiori/Kempney

Talbot
Nilsson

The team feels like they can earn themselves another playoff spot, but it's going to be tough in the East. The Senators and Flyers expect to stand near the top of the Atlantic, while the remaining 6 teams all battle for the remaining spots. With not much cap space left, GM Eric Ferraro's hands are tied as he hopes the current roster is enough to get the job done.