Some major dominos have fallen with less than 24 hours to go until NHL Free Agency. First, Patrick Kane remained with the Detroit Red Wings as he signed a one-year contract. Then, the Tampa Bay Lightning made their big move. The Lightning have reportedly agreed to a new contract with Jake Guentzel, according to Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli. This comes after Tampa Bay traded for Guentzel's signing rights in an earlier deal with the Carolina Hurricanes.
Of course, just trading for Guentzel was one piece of the puzzle for the Lightning, as they then had to sign him to an extension before free agency opened. They managed to do that shortly after the trade went through, as the two sides agreed to a massive seven-year deal that carries an annual average value of $9 million.
Guentzel began the 2023-24 NHL season with the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, as Pittsburgh fell out of playoff contention, they listened to trade offers around the NHL Trade Deadline. The Penguins eventually traded Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes. In the regular season, the Omaha native scored 30 goals and 77 points. He later added four goals and nine postseason points as Carolina was eliminated in the second round of the playoffs.
How Jake Guentzel ended up with the Lightning
The Lightning entered the offseason with rather limited salary cap flexibility. Additionally, it seemed as if Tampa Bay wanted to extend Steven Stamkos as his contract was set to expire. However, talks with Stamkos have stalled. And those talks did not re-ignite after Tampa Bay made massive moves at the 2024 NHL Draft.
The Lightning first cleared significant cap space by trading Mikhail Sergachev to the Utah Hockey Club. Tampa Bay received defenseman JJ Moser, forward Conor Geekie, the 199th pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, and a 2025 second-round pick. Then, they cleared more space by trading forward Tanner Jeannot to the Los Angeles Kings.
These trades cleared a little more than $11 million in cap space. Some believed this would pave the way to a Stamkos extension. However, Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois put cold water on that idea. After the draft, reports emerged that Tampa Bay had an interest in Guentzel. And on Sunday, they traded a 2025 third-round pick to the Hurricanes for his signing rights.
The Lightning have failed to get out of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in consecutive seasons. This past season saw them lose to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers. Tampa Bay wants to get back to their Stanley Cup contending ways in 2024-25. And they believe Jake Guentzel can help them achieve that aim.
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