On the heels of the Ilya Mikheyev signing, the Tampa Bay Lightning reportedly inked hard-nosed Jeffrey Viel to a five-year contract with a $2.5 AAV.
In his first full season in the NHL the 29-year-old from Quebec landed 121 hits in 45 games between Boston and Anaheim. The Ducks picked up the physical forward in exchange for a fourth-round pick last January as they shored up their march to the playoffs.
Season Age Team Pos GP G A PTS +/- PIM EVG PPG SHG GWG SOG SPCT TSA TOI ATOI FOW FOL FO% BLK HIT TAKE GIVE
2020-21 24 SJS F 11 0 0 0 -7 23 0 0 0 0 10 0.0 15 79:57 7:16 0 0 0 22 0 1
2021-22 25 SJS F 34 3 2 5 -2 114 3 0 0 0 30 10.0 52 299:19 8:48 4 8 33.3 11 84 13 9
2022-23 26 SJS F 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 4 0.0 6 36:41 9:10 0 0 2 6 2 1
2024-25 28 BOS F 5 0 0 0 -1 14 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 6 38:27 7:41 1 0 100.0 2 12 2 4
2025-26 29 2TM F 45 3 7 10 -3 79 3 0 0 0 62 4.8 128 536:51 11:56 1 4 20.0 21 121 8 30
2025-26 29 BOS F 10 0 0 0 -1 30 0 0 0 0 11 0.0 21 95:03 9:30 1 1 50.0 4 27 1 2
2025-26 29 ANA F 35 3 7 10 -2 49 3 0 0 0 51 5.9 107 441:48 12:37 0 3 0.0 17 94 7 28
NHL NHL NHL 99 6 9 15 -13 232 6 0 0 0 109 5.5 207 991:15 10:01 6 12 33.3 36 245 25 45
NHL NHL NHL 82 5 7 12 -11 192 5 0 0 0 90 5.5 171 821 10:01 5 10 33.3 30 203 21 37
SJS SJS SJS 49 3 2 5 -9 139 3 0 0 0 44 6.8 73 415:57 8:29 4 8 33.3 13 112 15 11
BOS BOS BOS 15 0 0 0 -2 44 0 0 0 0 14 0.0 27 133:30 8:54 2 1 66.7 6 39 3 6
ANA ANA ANA 35 3 7 10 -2 49 3 0 0 0 51 5.9 107 441:48 12:37 0 3 0.0 17 94 7 28
Provided by “Hockey-Reference.com”
Viel isn’t going to put the puck in the net a lot (six goals in 99 career NHL games) but will give a solid effort on a nightly basis.
It’s an interesting signing considering the length of the deal and the fact that Viel probably isn’t guaranteed a spot on the roster. He has shown a bit more of a well-rounded game in the AHL where he scored 15 goals in 2022-23 and 13 goals in 2024-25. It’s likely that he’ll have a home on the Lightning’s fourth line, but he hasn’t had much penalty-killing experience over his career.
He isn’t afraid to take on a heavyweight or two. Here he is holding his own against old friend Curtis Douglas.
The Lightning have confirmed the signing:
