With more college teams starting to be eliminated, we’re seeing an influx of NHL prospects signing contracts. With Michigan State losing on Thursday, several of their prospects will be turning pro. While it’s expected that Lightning winger Isaac Howard will be one of them, his situation might take a little longer to resolve.
Scott Wheeler of The Athletic relays (Twitter links) that Howard’s desire is to burn a year of his entry-level deal right away and join Tampa Bay for the stretch run where he could play for them, including in the playoffs. However, that’s something they can’t afford to do. Per PuckPedia, the team has just $8,372 of cap space which obviously isn’t enough to fit Howard in. Even prorating by day, they’d likely only be able to sign him with two days left in the regular season. That’s still not for another roughly three weeks and it might be harder for the team to consider using him in the playoffs after sitting for so long.
Alternatively, the Lightning could push for Howard to go to AHL Syracuse. For that to happen, he’d have to sign an entry-level deal that begins next season (eliminating his NHL eligibility this season) or sign a tryout deal with the Crunch, play with them for a bit, and then sign an NHL deal with Tampa Bay beginning this year to be playoff-eligible. The latter route is rarely taken but there is a recent instance of a player doing that; Anaheim’s Sam Colangelo took that path last season.
Howard started his college career at the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 2022-23 but went to Michigan State via the transfer portal the following year. He put up a point per game last season and found another gear offensively this year, tallying 26 goals and 26 assists in just 37 games, slotting him fifth in NCAA scoring while demonstrating he’s ready to make the jump to the pros. But with Tampa Bay’s cap situation, just how exactly he’s going to start his professional career remains in question.