NHL teams
Scott Burnside, ESPN Senior Writer 8y

Lightning give 8-year deal to Victor Hedman; extend Andrei Vasilevskiy

NHL, Tampa Bay Lightning

One day after signing captain Steven Stamkos to an eight-year contract to keep him from venturing into free agency, the Tampa Bay Lightning inked top defenseman Victor Hedman to an eight-year deal of his own.

The extension, which the team announced Friday, will kick in at the start of the 2017-18 season and will pay Hedman $63 million, or $7.875 million annually.

"Victor has matured into one of the top defensemen in the NHL, and coming off the recent re-signing of our captain, Steven Stamkos, we've secured another extremely important member of our team," general manager Steve Yzerman said in a statement. "I'm very appreciative of both Victor and [agent] Peter Wallen's efforts to reach an agreement with us at this time."

Hedman tweeted about the extension Friday.

Hedman, 25, had 10 goals and 37 assists for the Lightning last season, his seventh in the NHL. He has 49 goals and 180 assists in 470 career NHL games. The Lightning drafted Hedman with the No. 2 overall pick in 2009.

Yzerman wasn't done with his heavy lifting with the Hedman contract. The team also announced Friday afternoon it has signed netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy to a three-year extension.

Vasilevskiy, a 21-year-old who played well in relief of the injured Ben Bishop in the Eastern Conference finals against Pittsburgh, will earn an average of $3.5 million annually over the three years of the contract.

"It's been a good week for us," Yzerman said.

The extension provides further evidence that the team might look to move Bishop, 29, who will be entering the final year of his contract next season.

Meanwhile, Stamkos, 26, will receive $8.5 million annually on his deal, which begins in 2016-17. Combined, the Lightning have locked up their two most important assets for the foreseeable future, and both at average annual incomes that will, in theory, make it easier for Yzerman to re-sign other important Lightning players in the future, such as Ondrej Palat, Tyler Johnson and Alex Killorn.

The signings will reinforce the notion that the Lightning will once again be considered a Stanley Cup contender next season. They lost in the finals to the Chicago Blackhawks in 2015 and were defeated in the Eastern Conference finals this year in seven games by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

^ Back to Top ^