The news we’ve been waiting for is here. In an attempt to clear his task list before the year is out, Julien BriseBois has re-signed Anthony Cirelli to a three-year contract at $4.8M AAV. This would not have been possible without Nikita Kucherov going on LTIR for a hip injury, but JBB still has a bit to go (around $2M over) before the Tampa Bay Lightning are cap compliant to start the season.
After signing Cirelli to 3 year deal with an AAV of $4.8M, we now show the #Lightning with a projected salary cap of $93,191,666 based on a roster of 22 players.
That puts them $2,191,666 over what they can spend after placing Kucherov on LTIR.
Waivers or a trade are options. pic.twitter.com/k02yDuaP4Z
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) December 24, 2020
Talking amongst ourselves yesterday, the Raw Charge staff tried to figure out what kind of contract Cirelli might be offered. We all guessed somewhere between the 3-4M AAV range for a bridge deal, looking at Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat’s bridge deals as a comparable. Turns out the one we should have been looking at was Mikhail Sergachev, who also garnered a $4.8M, three-year contract this past Thanksgiving.
Here is a further breakdown of Cirelli’s salary:
#tblightning re-sign Anthony Cirelli to a three-year deal at $4.8 million AAV. The terms are $2.4 million, $4.8 million, $7.2 million.
— Joe Smith (@JoeSmithTB) December 24, 2020
From the press release:
Cirelli, 23, played in 68 games for the Lightning during the 2019-20 regular season, recording 16 goals and 44 points to go along with a +28 rating and 30 penalty minutes. The Etobicoke, Ontario native ranked tied for the team lead and tied for fifth in the NHL for plus/minus.
Cirelli set career highs last season for assists (28), points, plus/minus and power-play points (five). He also led the team for face-offs (914) and face-off wins (434). Cirelli ranked fifth among all NHL forwards for average shorthanded time on ice per game (2:49).
The 6-foot, 193-pound forward also skated in 25 Stanley Cup Playoff games in 2020, notching three goals and nine points to go along with two penalty minutes. Cirelli has appeared in 168 career NHL games, all with the Lightning over the past three seasons, posting 40 goals and 94 points to go along with a +64 rating and six shorthanded goals.The Lightning drafted Cirelli in the third round, 72nd overall, at the 2015 NHL Draft.
Is Cirelli worth this salary? We’ll take this as a yes:
— dom luszczyszyn (@domluszczyszyn) December 24, 2020
