The Tampa Bay Lightning signed defensive stalwart Victor Hedman to a four-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $8 million, the team announced Tuesday.
The deal keeps Hedman, 33, in Tampa Bay, the only NHL home he’s ever known, through 2028-29. It comes on the heels of former 34-year-old captain Steven Stamkos’ signing with the Nashville Predators on Monday.
Heddy, set, go! 👏
We have signed defenseman Victor Hedman to a four-year contract extension worth an AAV of $8 million.
📝: https://t.co/71ISMzA7Gt pic.twitter.com/XBIUU816A7
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) July 2, 2024
Extending Hedman was a significant bit of business for the Lightning. Signing him a year early gives the team certainty and avoids another distraction hanging over the season like Stamkos’ situation did. Now with Hedman under contract, Tampa Bay has its core locked up for at least the next three seasons, and the extra cap space over those years can go toward finding value contracts to boost their supporting cast.
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Hedman’s deal looks cost-effective, even for a span of years covering ages 34 to 38. He forecasts to be worth about $9.3 million in Year 1 of the deal, and only projects to fall below that $8 million range in the final year (by $500,000). On average, that is a projected value of $8.4 million over the next four years which the contract comes in below.
The bitter pill is that a four-year, $8 million AAV extension is what Stamkos signed in Nashville. Considering how much the Lightning have had to decimate their blue line over the years, it makes sense why management was willing to give Hedman this contract even though they could sign Stamkos to a similar deal. Hedman is still playing at the level of a No. 1 defenseman and is Tampa Bay’s backbone on the back end. Locking him up for the next four years and landing Jake Guentzel on a seven-year deal are two pivotal moves for a Tampa Bay team that still has hopes of contending.
Victor Hedman signs a well deserved extension at a very fair price. pic.twitter.com/zESYs9MVfM
— dom 📈 (@domluszczyszyn) July 2, 2024
Hedman scored 13 goals and tallied 63 assists across 78 games this season. His average time on ice (24:48) led all Lightning skaters.
Hedman won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021 and took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP in 2020. He’s a six-time James Norris Memorial Trophy finalist and won the award in 2018, becoming the first player in franchise history to do so.
The defenseman was scooped up by Tampa Bay in the 2009 NHL Draft and made his NHL debut later that year. He’s played all 15 seasons of his NHL career with the Lightning.
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(Photo: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)