NHL

Financial terms were not immediately made available. The hard-hitting defenseman appeared in 22 games with the Lightning this past season, while posting two goals, five points, 38 penalty minutes and a plus-3 rating. Gudas was also credited with 87 hits.

Paquette had 27 goals, 83 points, and 103 penalty minutes in 63 QMJHL games this season. He was taken in the fourth round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

He has two years left on his current deal at a $4.5 million cap hit. However, GM Steve Yzerman wasn't willing to discuss his thought process just yet. "We'll spend the next month figuring out our plan," Yzerman said. "I'm not really concerned with where we are with the cap. It's not going to be an issue for us as far as what we want to do."

Nesterov spent the past three season playing in the KHL after the Lightning drafted him in the fifth round in 2011. Nesterov had one assist, 14 penalty minutes and a plus-6 rating in 35 regular-season games for Chelyabinsk Traktor this season.

"Our group will change, how dramatically I'm not prepared to say yet, but we'll explore options as far as improving the areas we feel need to be addressed," Yzerman said. "We have players coming up from Syracuse (of the American Hockey League) next year that will have an opportunity to make this team. So, things will be different; they need to be different." The Lightning had the two top scorers in the league, with Martin St. Louis winning the Art Ross Trophy and Steve Stamkos finishing just one point behind him, but they failed to make the playoffs. New coach Jon Cooper is expected to have a say in the personnel moves after assessing the team after he took over for Guy Boucher.

The Tampa sniper felt he hyperextended his knee slightly on a hit he put on Florida defenseman Filip Kuba late in the third period of Saturday's finale. He will fly to Sweden Tuesday to play for Canada at the world championship.

Stamkos ended up with 29 goals and 57 points in 48 games. He lost to Alex Ovechkin, who scored a surreal 24 goals in his final 29 games.