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Lightning sign Brandon Hagel to 8-year extension
Acquired from the Chicago Blackhawks at the 2022 trade deadline, Hagel broke out last year with 30 goals and 64 points.
The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Brandon Hagel to an eight-year, $52-million extension, the club announced on Tuesday.
The deal carries an average annual value (AAV) of $6.5 million per season, and kicks in ahead of the 2024-25 NHL campaign — buying out Hagel's remaining years of restricted free agency.
Hagel, 24, broke out in a major way for the Lightning last season, serving as a key cog at the top of the Bolts' lineup while also providing some snarl. He finished tied for third on the team with 30 goals, his first time reaching the milestone, while notching 64 points.
The forward was acquired alongside two late picks by the Lightning in March 2022 in a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks, with a pair of first-round picks in 2023 and 2024 as well as Boris Katchouk and Taylor Raddysh heading the other way.
With Hagel's extension, the Lightning lock in yet another important contributor for the foreseeable future. Just last offseason, Tampa Bay inked defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak, along with forward Anthony Cirelli, to eight-year deals, while also signing fellow 2022 deadline pickup Nick Paul to a seven-year extension ahead of his pending unrestricted free agency.
Notably, given the salary cap's expected increase over the coming seasons after years of a flat cap, Hagel's deal appears unlikely to handcuff the Lightning in any meaningful capacity moving forward.
That's particularly relevant given that captain Steven Stamkos is due for a new contract next summer as he enters the final year of an eight-year pact he signed back in June 2016. Longtime Lightning veteran and blueline stalwart Victor Hedman is also approaching the conclusion of his contract, with his eight-year, $63 million deal — signed just days after Stamkos' — set to expire at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season.
