The Tampa Bay Lightning left draft weekend in Buffalo 10 new players, but with few answers to situations that need a resolution.

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The weekend kicked off with Tampa Bay re-signing three players - defenseman Luke Witkowski to a one year deal while forwards Cedric Paquette and J.T. Brown to two-year deals - in the hours leading up to the start of the draft.

Then the rumors surrounding a possible move of Ben Bishop to Calgary started up and appeared to be heading in the right direction with the leaked contract extension request on Bishop in the neighborhood of 7-years at $7 million per year (which seems a little steep for 29-year old even after being a Vezina Trophy finalist twice in the past three years as teams appear to be hesitant to give long-term, big money deals to goaltenders).

Those rumors went to the wayside, however, after Calgary acquired Brian Elliott from St. Louis for the relatively cheap price of a 2nd round draft pick (Lars Eller and Andrew Shaw each swapped teams for double that price, two second-round picks).

So the Lightning focused their attention to the draft, choosing C Brett Howden with the 27th overall pick. Howden, the brother of Florida's Quinton Howden, played alongside Lightning prospect Brayden Point with Moose Jaw in the Western Hockey League.

On day two of the draft Tampa Bay opened up with a trade - no, not that trade - sending former first-round pick Anthony DeAngelo to Arizona for a second-round pick, 37th overall, and used it to select defenseman Libor Hajek from Saskatoon of the WHL via the Czech Republic.

The Lightning had two additional second round picks at their disposal, using the 44th overall pick on 6-foot-1, 192-pound forward Boris Katchouk from Sault Ste. Marie. With the 58th overall pick, Tampa Bay selected another forward, Taylor Raddysh from Erie of the OHL where he finished third on the team in scoring.

Overall, Tampa Bay drafted six forwards, two defenseman and one goaltender (19-year-old Connor Ingram from Kamloops). Among those selected include Christopher Paquette from Niagara, the second cousin of current Lightning forward Cedric Paquette, chosen in the fifth round. Tampa Bay's sixth round pick was used on a project, selecting 6-foot-8, 250-pound defenseman Oleg Sosunov who plays in Russia's third-division where he was an All-Star.

So, what's next?

Well, a lot actually.

There is the thought of Steven Stamkos going elsewhere. The window to talk to unrestricted free agents has been open since Saturday and there has been plenty of talk from teams announcing they would reach out to Stamkos including Buffalo, Boston and Detroit among others.

How much will he be offered? Tim Murray suggested a team can win with a player taking up $13-14 million in salary cap space, so does the Buffalo general manager already have an idea of what the Sabres might offer?

Detroit put out its welcome mat to Stamkos after finding a way to move the contract of Pavel Datsyuk to Arizona, essentially announcing to everyone withing ear shot that they will make a play for Stamkos.

We know all about the ties to Toronto that link Stamkos to the Maple Leafs.

Where does that leave the Lightning?

Nothing has changed on this front for Tampa Bay. There is a standing offer on the table for Stamkos. It's not a take-it-or-leave-it offer, but there likely isn't much wiggle room because of the salary cap situation the Lightning continue to face. But the door is not closed on Stamkos returning, but it appears to only be open a crack at this point. And let's face it, at this point in the process owes it to take advantage of the opportunity to speak to other teams just to see what is out there. He's earned the right as an unrestricted free agent.

Then there is Ben Bishop, who might now be a target of the Dallas Stars, a rumor that popped up on Saturday. And Dallas is a team I felt all along would be an team that should target Bishop, provided they can find a way to move either Anttii Niemi or Kari Lehtnonen top open up a spot for a more established goaltender.

One of the rumored names to be moved in that deal could be defenseman John Klingberg, which would go a long way toward helping Tampa Bay's power play woes.

Even though a trade was not consummated regarding Bishop doesn't mean that groundwork wasn't laid out and could be pulled off before free agency starts on July 1.

Beyond that, it's all about the free agents - restricted and unrestricted - as that season is all but underway.

The first order of business revolves around qualifying offers for restricted free agents, which are due Monday at 5 p.m. I'm curious to see if Nikita Nesterov remains in the team's plans after he appeared to fall off the map somewhat at the end of the season, particularly in the playoffs where he was scratched for most of the final two rounds.

Then we will start to focus on what goes on with Victor Hedman, does he get an extension as soon as July 1 hits to avoid another Steven Stamkos situation?

What about Nikita Kucherov? How much will he command coming out of his entry level contract? How viable of a target is Kucherov for a potential offer sheet from another team?

How about Alex Killorn? What kind of a raise will he receive from his $2.5 million salary last season? Will a team throw an offer sheet his way? Might Tampa Bay look to possibly move him if he becomes too expensive?

Will Tampa Bay be a player in the free agent market? Conventional wisdom says the Lightning may not be active as they have so many of their own player contracts to address. And as we know, if you are paying on July 1, you are likely overpaying.

So many questions still surrounding this team coming out of the weekend that figure to be answered in the coming days.

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