Day One of NHL Free Agency is over and there’s lots of new players in new places. We’ve covered all the signings the Tampa Bay Lightning have made extensively (see the front page of the site or the links below), but I thought it would be interesting to see where all the former Bolts ended up.
David Savard
He was with the team for only a short time, but he won a Cup with us. Now, Savard has signed a four-year contract at $3.5 million in Montreal. It’s a big contract the Lightning were never going to be able to compete with.
Blake Coleman
Coleman cashed in on a six year deal with the Calgary Flames at $4.9 million.
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Blake Coleman signs for six years with Calgary Flames
Luke Schenn
Schenn got a two-year deal from the Vancouver Canucks worth $850k, similar to the Zach Bogosian contract with the Lightning, so Schenn is now back in Canada.
Christopher Gibson
The Florida Panthers signed Gibson to be their depth goalie on a one-year, two-way contract at the league minimum, $750k.
Devante Stephens (and Brady Keeper)
Stephens — as well as fellow Crunch defenseman Brady Keeper — have signed with the Vancouver Canucks to play for their new AHL team in Abbotsford.
Canucks got a good one in Devante Stephens. Really liked him on the Crunch. Big minutes defenseman with good offensive instincts. He definitely deserves a real chance somewhere. https://t.co/wI2jNYTN2d
— Hardev Lad (@HardevLad) July 28, 2021
Andreas Borgman
Borgman went to Dallas on a league minimum contract, $750k, for one year. It’s also a two-way deal so he’ll probably spend a lot of time with Texas.
Carter Verhaeghe
Verhaeghe, who spent a little bit of time with the Lightning, sign a three year contract extension with the Florida Panthers worth $4,166,667.
Cedric Paquette
Paquette signed a one-year contract with the Canadiens worth $950k after a year in Ottawa/Carolina.
Greg McKegg
He only played 15 games for the Lightning, but I might as well mention Greg McKegg signing a one-year, two-way with the New York Rangers worth $750k.
Lightning Links
The Tampa Bay Lightning have locked up Brayden Point for eight years after next season at an AAV of $9.5 million. Dom likes it, we like it, the fans like it, other teams hate it, everybody wins! [Raw Charge]
“Given Point’s impact and resume, a contract near Nikita Kucherov or Andrei Vasilevskiy’s would be my best guess. That being 8 years, around 9 million dollars annual average. Overall, the 25-year old center has played 351 NHL games, all with the Lightning, and scored 310 points. His postseason resume is even more impressive with 67 games played and 73 points.”
Should note that this doesn’t include playoff numbers where Point has a tendency to go sicko mode
— dom at the athletic (@domluszczyszyn) July 28, 2021
The Lightning have brought back Zach Bogosian on a three-year deal worth $850k. [Raw Charge]
“After spending a year in Toronto, Stanley Cup Champion Zach Bogosian has returned to the Tampa Bay Lightning on a three-year contract with an interesting AAV – $850k. Bogo took less money to return to Tampa, and the terms suggests he would like to settle down here with his young family as he starts his age-31 season.”
The Lightning also signed their backup goalie, Brian Elliott, to a one-year, $900k contract. [Raw Charge]
“Elliott doesn’t have great numbers, a .889 save percentage last season and a .899 the season before, playing about 30 games each season. However, before that Elliott was a much better goalie, so it seems the Lightning are hoping he regains some form, or a lesser workload will be better for him.”
The Bolts also got what looks to be their fourth line center in Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. He signed for two years at $1 million AAV. I’m curious now to know who the 3C for the Lightning will be. [Raw Charge]
“Bellemare is a pure fourth liner and plays the center ice position. He doesn’t bring much play driving or offense to the ice, but is a very strong defensive player. Over his career, he has won 51.3% of his faceoffs, which is something the Lightning have struggled with at times over the past few seasons.”
The Lightning and Crunch then signed five players to NHL contracts, including former Crunch captain Gabriel Dumont, and former Lightning defenseman Andrej Sustr. They also brought in goalie Maxime Lagace, forward Charles Hudon, and defenseman Darren Raddysh, brother of Taylor. [Raw Charge]
“The Tampa Bay Lightning have not yet confirmed some of the contracts that we know they have signed, and instead in a press release announced several new (and some familiar) players returning on one-year, two-way contracts as depth pieces for the team and key pieces for the Syracuse Crunch.”
Along with Point getting his extension, the other big contract of the day was Dougie Hamilton signing with the New Jersey Devils for seven years at $9 million per.
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Spend Money, Acquire Dougie: New Jersey Devils Summary of the First Day of Free Agency
A former player of ours, Anthony DeAngelo, signed with the Carolina Hurricanes after getting kicked off the New York Rangers and bought out for racist slurs at K’Andre Miller that got him beat up after a game. In his press conference he told enraged Canes fans that they’ll forget how racist he is because he plays hockey good. It didn’t go over well and many are abandoning their season ticket memberships as a result. Black Girl Hockey Club organization, with whom the Canes signed the Get Uncomfortable pledge, also called out the team for signing an unapologetic racist.
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Hurricanes’ signing of DeAngelo, reported interest in Virtanen demonstrates hypocrisy
He said it: Tony DeAngelo on signing with Hurricanes
He Said It: Waddell discusses DeAngelo signing, first day of free agency
