Lightning GM Feaster Says Business At Standstill Pending Sale

Feaster Says Pending Lightning Sale Holding Up Team's Planning For Next Season

Lightning GM Jay Feaster said that the team "still does not have a player payroll or operating budget for next season because the sale" to movie producer Oren Koules "still isn't done," according to Damian Cristodero of the ST. PETERSBURG TIMES. Until that deal is complete, "much of the team's business is at a standstill." Feaster: "The biggest thing we have to get is a sale transaction complete. Once that gets done, we'll have recommendations. It is difficult to plan until we know exactly where we are as far as that goes." Cristodero notes the NHL salary cap next season is "expected to be about $56[M]," up about $6M from this season, with a minimum payroll of "about $42M." Feaster said that he would "like to add a college scout, something the team does not have ... [and] fill an empty pro scout position." Feaster also "wants to extend the contract" of AHL Norfolk Admirals GM Claude Loiselle. Feaster: "But once you lay it out there, it becomes a function of what is payroll going to be? What is payroll going to be for everything? Can we add staff?'' Feaster added: "It's awful tough to manage the past three or four months with the flux we have starting with our ownership. You don't solve anything until you get a plan" (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 4/9).