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Lightning lock up Victor Hedman with eight-year contract extension


The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed franchise defenseman Victor Hedman to an eight-year contract extension worth a total of $63 million.

The 25-year-od Hedman is signed for one more year at $4 million and then was going to hit the unrestricted free agent market next summer. Friday was the first day the team could have signed Hedman to a long-term deal before his unrestricted free agency period began.

The news of Hedman comes two days after the Lightning signed Steven Stamkos to an eight-year contract worth $64 million. Stamkos’ deal, which had less per-year dollar value than it was believed he would receive on the open market, helped give the team flexibility moving forward to sign other big-named players on the roster like Hedman.

P.K. Subban currently has the highest cap hit amongst NHL defensemen at $9 million. Shea Weber is second at $7.857 million. Once Hedman’s deal starts he will rank second at $7.875 million.

“We are very pleased to announce the signing of Victor Hedman to an eight-year contract extension. 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,” Tampa general manager Steve Yzerman said in a statement released by the team.

PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 26: Victor Hedman #77 of the Tampa Bay Lightning moves the puck in front of Tom Kuhnhackl #34 of the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Final during the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Consol Energy Center on May 26, 2016 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***

The 6-foot-6, 223-pound Hedman is considered one of the top two-way defenseman in the NHL and is an important cornerstone to Tampa. Last season he had 47 points and a plus-21 rating, while averaging 23:04 of ice-time per-game. His best season came in 2013-14 when he had a career-high 13 goals and 55 points.

Last season, Hedman held a plus-9.82 score and venue adjusted 5-on-5 CF% Rel. He had a 57.1 score and venue adjusted 5-on-5 CF%.

The team has been rumored to trade goaltender Ben Bishop in order to free up some more room for some of its younger stars.

Forward Nikita Kucherov is coming off an entry-level contract and will likely get a large raise as a restricted free agent. Forwards Tyler Johnson and Ondrej Palat (both currently at $3.33 million) will be restricted free agents after next season.

Forward Alex Killorn ($2.55 million salary cap hit) is also a pending RFA. According to General Fanager, the Lightning have $12,979,167 of salary cap space remaining this offseason. For 2017-18 they have $45,120,833 dedicated towards 21 contracts.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!