Victor Hedman signs eight-year extension with Lightning
“Let’s do this”, Hedman tweeted Friday.
April 27, 2016: Matthew Carle (25) of the Tampa Bay Lightning during the first game of the 2016 second round NHL Eastern Conference playoffs. “For me, there was never a doubt”, Hedman said Friday on a call. “Staying in Tampa was my No. 1 priority”. “We’ve been close in Tampa”. He’s a big personality, still willing and able to play tough and mean after all these years in the league. Obviously we keep in touch.
Both Okposo and Lucic come out as the big winners, financially at least, after Day One of free agency.
Yzerman: “With Stamkos & Hedman [signing], these are our cornerstones”. So I’ll have to make a decision on that in the future.
“We’re trying to put as competitive a team on the ice (as possible) and we asked Stammer, will you work us on this? Moving forward it’s going to be important for everyone to buy into that”, said Hedman. Both are reticent to say too much, but aren’t shy about saying that players who want to win on this team right now are going to have to sacrifice.
Mikkel Boedker. His performance has always been just slightly less than expected, and it was that way again this year: Boedker was traded from Arizona to Colorado at the deadline, but couldn’t help push the Avalanche into the playoffs, and finished with only four goals in 18 games for his new team.
The sacrifice here is clearly salary.
Beyond repeatedly insisting that he wanted to remain in Tampa, it wasn’t clear what factors were most important to Stamkos.
Weber’s contract, additionally, doesn’t expire until 2026, carrying a $7.8 million cap hit, while Subban’s deal expires in 2022, though holding an extra $1.2 million on the cap annually. So it was sort of a big deal for him to see that Swedish soccer star Zlatan Ibrahimović officially signed with United on Saturday.
It is also a huge step back for the Canadiens in terms of team public relations, entertainment quotient and overall fan engagement, the single most consistent driver in the business of sport. Hedman saw that play out and avoids creating that film’s sequel by getting a deal done now.
Yzerman applied the same approach to stud defenceman Victor Hedman, who also extended with the Lightning for eight years at an average annual value of $7.875 million US.
The Lightning have been very busy already this summer.
The Lightning are also in talks with other restricted free agents Alex Killorn and Vladislav Namestnikov. It’s no small thing for Yzerman to work out, and there will nearly certainly be cap casualties.
FILE – In this April 2, 2012, file photo, Tampa Bay Lightning’s Steven Stamkos, center, celebrates with teammate Martin St. Louis as referee Kelly Sutherland signals Stamkos’ goal during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, in Tampa, Fla.
“I spent a lot of time in Nashville and enjoyed my time there but the more I look at it now I am excited to join a franchise with a rich history and go there and be part of something special”.