The last piece of the puzzle is in place for the defending Stanley Cup champions. The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced the signing of restricted free agent Anthony Cirelli to a three-year contract worth $4.8 million AAV
Cirelli had 16 goals and 44 points in 68 games last season. He added another three goals and nine points in the Bolts Stanley Cup run.
The Lightning have had a busy week, signing Erik Cernak to an $8.85 million, three-year deal, defenceman Jan Rutta for $2.6 million over two years, forward Mathieu Joseph for $1.475 million over two years and Alex Volkov for $700,000 this season. It's not all good news however, as the team announced star forward Nikita Kucherov is out for the 2020-21 regular season due to a hip injury that requires surgery.
The team has also announced that captain Steven Stamkos will be ready to go when the season opens on January 13th. Stamkos has been recovering from a lower abdominal core muscle injury which he suffered prior to the NHL's return to play. The 30-year-old returned for Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Dallas Stars, but played just 2:47 -- all in the first period -- and scored a goal in his team's win.
Even with Kucherov's salary being moved to LITR, Tampa Bay is about $2 million over the salary cap of $81.5 million. The team will either need to make a trade or move salary to the minors before the season begins on January 13th.
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