LeBrun rumblings: Buzz from the NHL Draft on Killorn, Nylander, Hanifin,

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It is a dance the Lightning are used to by now, but this summer the salary cap is particularly suffocating for the perennial Stanley Cup contenders.

They won’t be a big player in free agency Saturday, nor will they likely be able to partake in some of the big trades going down around the league this summer.

“I knew this was going to be the season where our cap crunch was to be the crunchiest,’’ Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois quipped Thursday as the second round of the NHL draft wound down.

Not that he’s whining. Not at all. That’s life for all the elite teams. No cap room and tough decisions.

It’s about keeping as much of the team together as possible — and already that goal has taken a hit with the losses this week of Ross Colton and Corey Perry.

Now it’s about one last shot at trying to keep pending unrestricted free agent Alex Killorn in the fold before the market opens Saturday.

“I’m still holding hope that we’ll be able to bring him back,” BriseBois said. “He’s an important member of our team. He’s been a huge contributor to us. He’s a homegrown talent. More importantly, I think he can still help us for the future and help us compete for more championships. That’s all the more reason we’d really like to keep him. Our financial constraints are what they are. We’re going to find out soon enough if we’re able to come to an agreement.

“I do know Alex wants to stay as badly as we want to keep him. Now it’s just a matter of whether we’re able to come up with a concept that works for both parties.’’

If he leaves, that’s an impactful hit to the Lightning’s leadership group, too. Tampa Bay could be staring at losing Killorn, Perry and Colton a year after parting ways with Ondrej Palat and Ryan McDonagh.

“That’s the reality when the cap goes up $4 million over six years and you have a lot of good players and they all deserve to get paid,” BriseBois said. “You’re not going to be able to keep everyone.’’

Core pieces such as Mikhail Sergagev, Erik Cernak and Anthony Cirelli all have new eight-year extensions kicking in next season — raises that were deserved, BriseBois said, and allow the team to have a core that should continue to be competitive.

And that’s for sure. The Bolts will be contenders again, especially after finally having a full offseason for their players to rest after three consecutive trips to the Cup Final.

But first, it’s another tough summer with the cap, filling out the roster below that core as best they can. If they lose Killorn, they’ll use whatever was earmarked for him and see what’s out there on the UFA market. But he’s a tough guy to replace for what he means to the fabric of that team.

Rumblings elsewhere:

• The first thing that’s important to know on the William Nylander front is that Saturday isn’t any kind of real deadline for the Maple Leafs. The fact he has a modified no-trade clause…