The Portuguese Pistol is staying in Tampa! The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that they have re-signed the Gage Goncalves to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $1.2 million. He will remain a restricted free agent at the end of the deal.
The 24-year-old forward appeared in 60 regular season games for the Lightning last year and posted 8 goals while adding 12 assists. He added another 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists) in the playoffs and was regarded as one of the more effective players for Tampa Bay in their all-too-brief five-game series against the eventual Stanley Cup champions, the Florida Panthers.
Goncalves should slot into the middle-six for the Lightning next season. He has the skillset to play on the second line with Brandon Hagel and Anthony Cirelli, but Coach Jon Cooper might have a little further down in the line-up in order to provide as much scoring depth as possible in 2025-26.
Goncalves earned a call-up in November and had an up-and-down tenure early in the season. After a brief assignment to Syracuse in late January, he returned to the NHL and was a much more confident player. April was his strongest month of the season for the Bolts as he posted 3 goals and 3 assists in 9 games.
Along with a middle-six role at 5v5, he should see some time on the second-unit power play. He has a really strong one-timer that he hasn’t quite unveiled at the NHL level. Coupled with an excellent ability to dish the puck to teammates, teams can’t cheat on him during the power play. If he plays up to his ability, he could provide an excellent value for the Lightning.
