Victor Hedman hopes contract keeps Lightning together

Defenseman Victor Hedman probably could have made more money on the open market if he hit unrestricted free agency in the summer.

The 25-year-old Hedman, who has one year left on a contract paying him $4 million, is one of the top all-around defenseman in the NHL – an imposing blend of size, speed and skill. Instead he opted for the comfort of Tampa and the ability to win with a ready-made contender.

On Friday, the Lightning announced Hedman had signed an eight-year $63 million extension that kicks in at the start of the 2017-18 season. It was the first day he was allowed to sign an extension with the team. This comes in at a salary cap hit of $7.875-milion per season.

“It’s a tough game, we have a successful team, it’s going to come down to numbers obviously with the cap it’s tough to keep the team together and for us to keep the team together it will maybe be a little bit of sacrifice but at the same time we play for a great organization,” Hedman said.

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.

In 2015-16, 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%.

Hedman’s desire to get a deal done was spurred by the decision of captain Steven Stamkos to sign an eight-year $64 million deal Wednesday. This contract was also less than what he would have likely received as a UFA on the open market.

According to Hedman, it was important for both stars to give the team the flexibility to at least try to keep the group together. Many of Tampa’s core players are under the age of 30 and many are due for raises in the next couple of years.

The last two years the Lightning have made it to the Stanley Cup Final and to the Eastern Conference Final.

“We’re a close group. I’ve played with Stammer for seven years now and we obviously keep in touch. It’s big decisions for both of us and it all came down to both of us wanted to stay and be in Tampa,” Hedman said. “We have a lot of good friends on the team and a close group, which made the decision way easier. We want to keep a competitive group and have a competitive team. For us moving forward it’s going to be important for everyone to buy into that obviously.”

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 $48,620,833 dedicated towards 22 contracts.

Hedman hopes that his signing and Stamkos’ signing can lead to some of these other contracts being resolved quickly.

“For me it’s never been about – I wanted to be a Bolt for a very, very long time,” Hedman said. “To get this extension done on the first day, a year before my contract expires was important to me and important to Tampa. I was very excited to get it done today and very excited moving forward.”

MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY

– – – – – – –

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! Follow @joshuacooper