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New Jersey Devils Sign Ondrej Palat

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3:43 pm: Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald has made the contract official, locking Palat in for five seasons at a cap hit of $6MM.

6:22 am: Late last night, once most of the league had gone to sleep, the New Jersey Devils were busy adding some Stanley Cup pedigree. Kevin Weekes of ESPN was first to report that Ondrej Palat would be signing a five-year deal with the Devils, and Chris Johnston of TSN added that it is expected to carry a cap hit of $6MM.

Palat, 31, has long been a swiss army knife for the Tampa Bay Lightning, able to move into any situation and excel. In 628 regular season games, all with the Lightning, he has 423 points. It has been the postseason where he shines the brightest, showing up at the biggest moments to score a game-winning goal, or deliver a game-saving shot block. This season, he had 21 points in 23 games as the Lightning tried to win their third consecutive championship.

In New Jersey, while he will still be asked to contribute at a high level, his addition will also give young players like Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier someone to lean on to find out “what it takes” to win in the NHL. As the Devils try to transition away from a rebuild and into a contention window, Palat should be able to help shepherd them along, filling in the gaps wherever necessary.

At a $6MM cap hit, a team like Tampa Bay would have had too much risk exposure, given their tight financial structure. In New Jersey, the team has plenty of space and should feel that same squeeze, though there will still likely be years at the end of the deal where he is not performing anywhere near a $6MM value. The focus is on his contributions in the short-term, and whether he can help the young Devils team reach the next level.

Haydn Fleury Signs With Tampa Bay Lightning

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed an interesting depth defenseman, inking Haydn Fleury to a two-year contract. The deal will carry an average annual value of $762.5K, meaning he’ll earn the league minimum in both seasons. Fleury was recently left unqualified by the Seattle Kraken this week, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Not the most high-profile signing of the day in the league, or for Tampa with their three massive extensions handed out, Fleury’s signing is still rather intriguing given Fleury’s history and Tampa’s ability to get the most out of players. The defenseman was drafted seventh-overall by the Carolina Hurricanes back in 2014, long being seen as one of the game’s top prospects. He would debut in 2017-18, playing in 67 games, tallying eight points, all assists. Fleury would spend the next few seasons playing in limited action for Carolina, delivering solid defense with very little offense. He appeared to turn a corner in the 2019-20 season, putting up four goals and 10 assists in 45 games, but after failing to repeat on that success the following year, he was dealt to the Anaheim Ducks.

Eventually selected by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 Expansion Draft, Fleury played just 36 games in Seattle this season, winding up non-tendered. Given the potential and promise that made Fleury such an attractive prospect for so many years, and the glimpse of a breakout seen in 2019-20, Fleury getting a shot with Tampa Bay, who has time and again been able to take players to a new level, is intriguing, and surely encouraging for the 26-year-old defenseman. It’s unclear what role Fleury might be presented with in Tampa, but with the trade of Ryan McDonagh, a new hole has opened up on their left-side defense.

Sergachev, Cirelli, Cernak Sign Eight-Year Extensions In Tampa

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Defenseman Mikhail Sergachev is staying in Tampa for nine more years. He’s signed an eight-year extension which will kick in for the 2023-24 season, per his agent Dan Milstein. TSN’s Chris Johnston reports the cap hit is $8.5MM.

That’s not it. Anthony Cirelli has also signed an eight-year extension with the team, this time worth $6.25MM per season according to Bob McKenzie of TSN. The semi-retired insider didn’t stop there. Erik Cernak has also inked an eight-year extension. His will be worth $5.2MM per season.

The team has now confirmed all three deals.

Sergachev was the first extension, and it’s a massive one. The Russian defender made an immediate impact after his trade from the Montreal Canadiens, authoring an impressive 40-point rookie year. Since then, Sergachev has been an important all-around defenseman for the Lightning during their Stanley Cup runs and is now being rewarded for it. Sergachev scored 7 goals and 38 points this season and has scored around that rate for most of his NHL career. Sergachev played 22:28 minutes per night last season and saw time on both the Lightning’s power play and penalty kill.

At max term and an $8.5MM AAV, the Lightning are banking on additional improvements from Sergachev. Sergachev is a great player right now, but $8.5MM is the sort of price tag typically assigned to lineup-anchoring number-one defensemen. Sergachev is now making more than his Norris Trophy-winning teammate, Victor Hedman, and only $500K less than the reigning Norris Trophy winner, Cale Makar. The Lightning are paying Sergachev like a number-one defenseman, and now it’s up to him to back up their faith with his play on the ice.

The second extension announced was one for Cirelli. Cirelli, who is just about to turn 25, is among the top defensive players in all of hockey. He has two top-five Selke Trophy finishes on his resume and helps the Lightning kill penalties. He’s also an important secondary scorer, with 17 goals and 43 points. Another top-of-the-line defensive center, Phillip Danault, was signed last season on a long-term deal with a $5.5MM AAV. Cirelli’s deal is in the same range as that contract.

Finally, we have the extension for Cernak. Cernak came to Tampa Bay as part of a heist of a trade, getting him from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Ben Bishop, who played only seven games in Los Angeles. Cernak has been a stay-at-home, physical top-four defenseman for the Lightning, a player who has admirably handled every challenge thrown to him by coach Jon Cooper. Cernak averaged 2:48 time on ice short-handed last season and was successful in that crease-clearing role. There’s not much offense to Cernak’s game, but the Lightning are very familiar with him and have ensured that so far highly successful marriage is extended.

On the back of all this positive news, BriseBois also announced some unfortunate as well. Joe Smith of The Athletic tweets that Cirelli and defenseman Zach Bogosian underwent shoulder surgery and will be out for the next four to six months, missing the start of the year.

Vladislav Namestnikov Returns To Tampa Bay Lightning

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Per his agent, Dan Milstein, former Tampa Bay Lightning draftee Vladislav Namestnikov is returning to his first team on a one-year deal. The deal is worth $2.5MM, per the official team announcement.

Namestnikov was a first-round pick of the Lightning at the 2011 draft. Namestnikov last played in Tampa Bay in the 2017-18 season before being sent to the New York Rangers in the Ryan McDonagh blockbuster trade. Since that trade, Namestnikov has been a bit of a journeyman, with stints in Ottawa, Colorado, Detroit, and Dallas.

This past season, Namestnikov was a decent bottom-sixer for the Detroit Red Wings before being sent to the Dallas Stars in exchange for a third-rounder at the deadline. Combining his time with both teams, Namestnikov finished 2021-22 with 30 points in 80 games. That’s about what can be expected from Namestnikov, who has experience as both a center and a winger.

The Lightning are familiar with him and are trying to re-capture the Stanley Cup after losing to the Colorado Avalanche in the Stanley Cup Final. Adding Namestnikov to their bottom-six gives coach Jon Cooper a reliable, versatile option to deploy in all situations and one that should help cover for the departure of Ondrej Palat.

Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Ian Cole

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The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed veteran defenseman Ian Cole, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, who reports that the deal is worth $3MM. Cole, 33, signs in Tampa Bay as the likely replacement for Jan Rutta, who is reportedly moving on after winning two Stanley Cups as Victor Hedman’s main partner. Cole’s $3MM deal is a $100k raise from the $2.9MM he made last season on the Carolina Hurricanes.

In Cole, the Lightning are acquiring a defender with significant playoff experience and an accomplished overall resume. A veteran of 670 NHL games, Cole won two Stanley Cups on the Pittsburgh Penguins. For years, Cole has been a reliable, defense-first fourth or fifth defenseman. Last season he ranked fifth on the Hurricanes in ice time and third on the team in short-handed ice time. He handled those minutes with some success, helping the Hurricanes have one of the top penalty kills in the NHL and one of the better overall defensive games.

With Rutta on the way out, Cole is the Lightning’s way of making sure his departure doesn’t impact their team too strongly. On a one-year term, Cole is a low-risk investment. Although he’s 33 years old, the odds are that Cole will be able to handle a similar role in Tampa Bay and a $3MM price tag is the market rate for players who can do that. He won’t wow fans or be the sort of flashy signing many want to see, but it’s a tidy bit of business by Julien Brisebois.

Free Agency Notes: Hague, Marchment, Kulak

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We haven’t heard a whole lot of offer sheet talk yet this offseason, but there is one young defenseman who could come into play. The Athletic’s Jesse Granger notes that he believes Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Nicolas Hague is “a real possibility” as an offer sheet candidate from general managers league-wide. Hague is an important defenseman on the rise in the Golden Knights organization, and while he doesn’t have a lot of leverage on his next contract as he’s not arbitration-eligible, another team could indeed force Vegas’ hand. A second-round pick from their first 2017 draft class, Hague’s notched a solid 42 points in 142 NHL games over the past three years. While he’s been limited to third-pairing minutes on a deep Vegas team, he’s shown really solid play-driving ability as an up-and-coming two-way defenseman. With the Golden Knights’ tight salary cap situation, it’s a reasonable bet that they couldn’t match a healthy offer for Hague.

  • TSN’s Pierre LeBrun expects the Montreal Canadiens to make an offer to bring back defenseman Brett Kulak when free agency opens tomorrow. They won’t be alone, though, as LeBrun notes that six other teams could be interested as well. Dealt to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for a package that included William Lagesson and a second-round pick at the trade deadline, Kulak is an underrated defensive commodity who’s extremely valuable in a bottom-four role. He’d spent the last three seasons prior to this year in a Habs uniform, and he was a steadying presence in 2021-22 on a struggling team.
  • If the Tampa Bay Lightning can’t come to terms with pending UFA Ondrej Palat, The Athletic’s Joe Smith lists Mason Marchment as someone the team could make an offer to in free agency. He’d certainly add a strong checking element to the team’s middle six, and while he likely wouldn’t replace Palat’s value entirely, he’d be a strong value option with a breakout year last season and great underlying metrics. Marchment finished 2021-22 with 47 points in just 54 games.

Tampa Bay Lightning Hire Jeff Blashill

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In what has basically become a coaching trade, Jeff Blashill will join the Tampa Bay Lightning as an assistant for next season. He takes the spot of Derek Lalonde, who was hired to replace him with the Detroit Red Wings this summer.

It will be something of a surprise to see Blashill back as an assistant, given how long he’s been the head man in one place or another. You have to go back to 2011-12 to find the last time he wasn’t running a bench, his first year in the NHL. Since then, he took over the head coaching duties with the Grand Rapids Griffins for three years (where he won a championship) and then was the head coach of the Red Wings for the last seven seasons.

Even before he came to the NHL he was the head coach at the USHL and NCAA levels, meaning assisting isn’t something Blashill is very familiar with.

As Joe Smith of The Athletic has profiled in the past, Blashill and Lightning head coach Jon Cooper have a strong relationship, so this move doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Still, it will be interesting to see what kind of effect it has on the Lightning, and how long Blashill is on the sidelines before pursuing another head coaching opportunity.

Maxime Lagace Re-Signs With Tampa Bay

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July 11: The Lightning have officially announced the contract, confirming that it is a one-year, two-way deal.

July 10: Goaltender Maxime Lagace has decided not to test free agency next week.  Instead, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that he has agreed to a one-year, two-way deal to remain with the Lightning.  The deal pays $750K in the NHL, $250K in the minors, and has a total guarantee of $350K.

The 29-year-old joined Tampa Bay last summer after spending 2020-21 in Pittsburgh’s organization.  He spent the bulk of the year as the starter with AHL Syracuse, posting a 2.31 GAA and a .910 SV% in 36 games.  Lagace also got into a pair of games with the Lightning, making it the fourth time in the past five years that he has seen NHL action.

Lagace will be expected to reprise his role as the starter with the Crunch with Andrei Vasilevskiy and Brian Elliott holding down the top two spots with the big club.  With the team parting ways with Amir Miftakhov earlier this summer, Lagace only has Hugo Alnefelt to split time with in the minors as things stand; Alexei Melnichuk is a restricted free agent that Tampa Bay will need to decide by 4 PM CT tomorrow whether or not to qualify him.

Offseason Checklist: Tampa Bay Lightning

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With the offseason in full swing, it’s time to examine what each squad will need to accomplish over the coming weeks.  Next up is a look at the Lightning.

Tampa Bay came close to making it three straight Stanley Cup titles before falling to Colorado in the Final last month.  With the majority of their core still intact and their biggest offseason move already made when they sent Ryan McDonagh to Nashville to free up cap space, GM Julien BriseBois’ to-do list for the rest of the summer is fairly simple.

Re-Sign Or Replace Rutta

Part of the reason for the McDonagh deal was to free up cap space to re-sign two of their pending free agents.  One of those is defenseman Jan Rutta.  The 31-year-old has been a serviceable depth player for the Lightning over the last four seasons and played a regular role for the first time in 2021-22, suiting up in a career-best 76 games while chipping in with 18 points.  He’s coming off a two-year deal with a $1.3MM cap hit and after showing he can handle a full-time spot, he should be able to beat that on the open market.

While Tampa Bay would certainly like to keep him around and have had discussions on a new deal, BriseBois also has to consider that McDonagh’s minutes need to be replaced.  Rutta held his own playing 16 minutes a game but McDonagh logged 22.  Can Tampa Bay fill those extra minutes internally with someone like Cal Foote or will they need someone that’s capable of taking on a bigger role?  While BriseBois has stated his intention to keep and work with Philippe Myers (who came over in the McDonagh swap), it’s unlikely that they can count on much from him after the way this past season went.  If Rutta and Foote can’t cover bigger roles on the third pairing to help offset the loss of McDonagh, BriseBois may have to go for a more prominent blueliner which would certainly take them out of the running for their other UFA of note.

Re-Sign Or Replace Palat

That other UFA is Ondrej Palat.  The winger has been a regular in Tampa Bay’s lineup for most of the last decade, spending a lot of that time as a fixture in their top six.  Along the way, he has become a consistent secondary scorer, notching at least 15 goals in seven of the last nine years and dealt with injury trouble in the two he didn’t.  That type of consistency is very valuable to teams and an impressive showing in the playoffs that saw Palat finish second to only Nikita Kucherov in scoring.  That certainly bolsters his value as we approach the opening of free agency on Wednesday.  That’s good news for him but less so for the Lightning.

The 31-year-old is coming off a contract that saw him make an average of $5.3MM over the past five years.  If he gets to the open market, a similar price at a similar term is doable.  That’s one that Tampa Bay can’t afford, especially knowing they have to keep or replace Rutta as well.  Even with Brent Seabrook’s LTIR space, there isn’t enough money for Palat to receive market value and still keep or re-place Rutta.  A team-friendly contract is always an option – several have taken a bit less to re-sign in previous years – but with this likely being Palat’s last chance at a big contract, it would certainly be understandable if he wants to see what his other options might be.

If Palat winds up going elsewhere and they need to find a replacement, it wouldn’t be surprising if BriseBois looked for someone on a one-year deal.  With several key pieces in need of new contracts soon, a short-term contract would allow give them a boost now and maintain a little bit of flexibility for the 2022-23 offseason.  There will be players that don’t like what they have for long-term offers and would certainly view the Lightning as a favorable spot for a ‘pillow’ contract and going that route could give Tampa Bay a capable replacement without needing as long of a commitment.

Extension Talks

Tampa Bay has basically exclusively used short-term bridge contracts with their restricted free agents in recent years.  The reason is certainly understandable as they used the lower cost of those contracts to keep their core intact and with two Stanley Cups and a Prince of Wales Trophy in the last three years, it’s hard to say they made the wrong choice.  Going that way eventually has its consequences but with that type of recent success they’ve had, it couldn’t have gone much better.

But the consequences of that approach are only a year away.  Defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak along with centers Anthony Cirelli and Ross Colton are all about to enter the final year of their respective bridge deals.  All four will have arbitration eligibility next summer.  Combined, they’ll have a cap hit of $13.675MM next season.  They will cost considerably more than that in 2023-24, likely surpassing the $20MM mark.  That’s going to result in the departure of another core player or two no matter what and BriseBois knows that.

While the Lightning could wait to work on these next summer, that’s a lot of big-ticket deals to sign in a short period of time and with arbitration hearings occurring after the bulk of unrestricted free agents have signed, getting into July with even a couple of these still pending wouldn’t be ideal.  Having the knowledge of what those players are going to cost before next June and July would be great for planning purposes while also giving those players certainly moving forward.  Are they going to get all of them signed now?  Probably not but the more they can finalize this summer, the easier it should be next summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

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