“They have a Vezina finalist (Vasilevskiy). The back-to-back Art Ross winner, who is also a Hart finalist (Kucherov). A Selke finalist (Cirelli). BriseBois expects Hedman to finish fourth or fifth in the Norris voting. In the end, the message from Julien BriseBois was a clear, emphatic one. He likes his team.”
NHL Insider Names Lightning Most Efficient Team
Posted September 13, 2025
Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois knows how to keep a team in contention. His finishing touches on the team Steve Yzerman built have made Tampa one of the most consistently successful teams in the NHL over the last half decade. He’s been so successful, in fact, that Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic ranked the Lightning the most efficient team in terms of salary.
Luszczyszyn’s advanced analytics model takes contracts, age, term, total salary cap and past results into consideration when ranking teams.
“Now, the Lightning have exactly zero problem contracts on the books but several solid deals, and their forward core is locked in at an incredible price,” Luszczyszyn said. “Between Nikita Kucherov, Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel, Hagel and Cirelli, the Lightning are paying $40.8 million for $58.5 million of value.”
“That’s Tampa Bay’s superpower and it makes the Lightning one of the league’s scariest teams for the 2025-26 season and beyond.”
Depth, Value Biggest Strengths for Lightning
What makes the Lightning such a remarkably efficient team lies within their depth. “First and foremost is the electric pairing of Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli,” Luszczyszyn said. “As president of the Hagel fan club, even I would never have expected the leap he took last season into stardom, scoring 90 points. Cirelli’s own leap was also a big deal for the Lightning, giving the team two high-powered lines.”
“Both players saw their market value shoot up $3 million per year relative to last season, a huge jump that obviously added a lot of surplus value given how much term both players have left. Combined, the duo’s unexpected ascent added $40 million to Tampa Bay’s bottom line.”
Brandon Hagel’s contract, at $6.5M per season with seven years remaining, is the most efficient contract in the NHL, per Luszczyszyn. The team’s average positional value is 67%, with $107M of surplus value added from the performance of each player.
Lightning Full Steam Ahead for 2025-26
There doesn’t appear to be anything slowing down the Lightning next season.
“Erik Cernak is back to looking like a $5 million defender while Andrei Vasilevskiy proved his 2023-24 struggles were purely a result of injury,” Luszczyszyn added on. He’s still got it and is back to a $9 million valuation.Better depth (Jakob Pelletier and Pontus Holmberg) helps, too. But those are the driving forces.”
The two lowest-rated contracts on Tampa’s roster are Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde. The former’s deal ends this season, while the latter has six years left on his. This isn’t to say either player is inefficient, either. In fact, the only reason they’re ranked so low is because the rest of the roster is just that efficient. Even 35-year-old Ryan McDonagh adds value to the roster.
Dave Mishkin of the Tampa Bay Lightning interviewed BriseBois at the end of last season. When about the future, BriseBois was ecstatic.
Broncos Already in Must-Win Mode Ahead of Week 2
Is this already a must-win game for the Denver Broncos?
The Denver Broncos play the Indianapolis Colts in Week 2, and this game already feels like a must-win.
After blowing the Colts out late in the 2024 NFL Season, the Broncos' playoff chances skyrocketed. It wasn't a clear-cut win, as Denver was struggling a bit across the first three quarters. The circumstances are a lot different now.
The Broncos are traveling to Indianapolis, and the Colts do have a different QB in Daniel Jones. This game might end up being a lot closer than what we saw in 2024, but when you think about it, this contest could also be a huge must-win game for Denver.
The Denver Broncos must start 2-0 or risk an early-season slump
In 2023, Sean Payton's Broncos started 0-3 and 1-5. In 2024, the Broncos were 0-2 through their first two games, and in both instances, this early-season slump forced the team to win at all costs. Even in 2023, had Denver just split their first six games and went 3-3, they'd have likely made the playoffs.
For whatever reason, Sean Payton tends to start out slow in September but has a much stronger success rate in October and November, and this has been the case during his time with the Broncos. Well, one would think that being able to start out 2-0 and shed that slow start could pave the way for some insane mid-season success.
Furthermore, Denver sees the Los Angeles Chargers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Philadelphia Eagles over the next three games, and being able to start out 2-0 would give them a bit of a buffer going into those three contests, as Denver could realistically go 1-2 over their next three games but still have a solid 3-2 record heading into mid-season.
However, starting 1-1 and losing to the Colts does make things much more complicated, as they're away against the Chargers and Eagles, so getting that second win in Week 2 could really benefit Denver in more ways than one.
And the way I see it; the Broncos absolutely have to win this game.
