NHL Contract Numbers: Lightning Sign Victor Hedman to Team-Friendly Extension

The contract

Tampa Bay Lightning have signed defenseman Victor Hedman to a four-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $8 million.

After losing franchise cornerstone Steven Stamkos on Monday, the Lightning signed defensive mainstay Victor Hedman a year earlier.

By signing Hedman now, the team and the player avoid the rollercoaster ride they just experienced with Stamkos. Instead, the player can enter the season without any distractions. And management gains security over one of their most important players and a backbone on defense. Between Hedman, Nikita Kucherov, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Brayden Point and now Jake Guentzel, the Lightning’s new core is all officially under contract for at least three years. That should give GM Julien BriseBois a solid salary cap space to work with each year to find a supporting cast that can extend this team’s chances of staying in the league.

The most important thing for a Lightning team operating on a tight budget is that Hedman needs to provide positive value over the life of his next deal. An uncharacteristically poor 2022-23 season may have raised some concerns about Tampa Bay’s No. 1 overall pick, but he bounced back last season and picked up the pace with his best play of the year. He’s gotten by without much support around him in recent seasons. With Ryan McDonagh returning, he’ll have the help he’s been missing to share the load of game time, which bodes well for him maintaining his high level of play.

Hedman will be 34 years old when his next contract begins, but he should be able to provide positive value over the course of the deal. The deal falls just short of Evolving Hockey’s four-year projection, which carried an $8.6 million cap hit. And it falls short of his projected value over that period of $8.4 million.

It’s a fairly unique deal for someone of Hedman’s caliber. The closest match, according to CapFriendly’s comparison tool, is Dmitry Orlov’s two-year deal he signed with the Hurricanes last season — and that’s only a 52.4 percent match, which isn’t all that close. Still, a lack of comparable deals isn’t a bad thing. If Tampa Bay had followed the path others have taken with franchise defensemen in their early to mid-30s, this deal could have lasted longer. Just think of Brent Burns’ eight-year deal with the Sharks that he signed at age 32, or Kris Letang’s six-year contract that he signed with Pittsburgh in 2022 at age 35. It’s in the Lightning’s best interest to keep the term short.

Could it still be a liability when he turns 37? It’s possible. Player values ​​tend to decline in their late 30s as age-related decline hits them. But remember: If their value starts out as high as Hedman’s, their lows could still be above average for a player that age.

The deal itself could be painful, as Stamkos signed a four-year, $8 million annual average in Nashville yesterday. But Hedman signing this deal plus Guentzel for seven years at $9 million is the best path forward for the Lightning, now and in the long run.

Contract level: a
Fit: a

(Photo: Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)