Another of the big restricted free agents is off the board with the Tampa Bay Lightning signing center Brayden Point to a three-year, $20.25 million deal.
“We are very pleased to re-sign Brayden today,” Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said in a statement. “He is the consummate professional with an unwavering commitment to team success, growing as a player and improving every day. It is that mindset that makes him an outstanding role model, teammate and person, on and off the ice. We look forward to getting Brayden back on the ice with his Lightning teammates as soon as possible.”
Like Mitch Marner, Point was in an interesting position heading into restricted free agency. He put up superstar numbers last season — 41 goals, 92 points — but he’s on a team already paying stars and therefore with cap constraints.
Hart Trophy winner Nikita Kucherov carries a $9.5 million cap hit, captain Steven Stamkos is at $8.5 million and they have five more players over $5 million.
Marner plays on the same team as high-paid superstars Auston Matthews and John Tavares.
Marner, however, got a six-year deal with an annual average value of almost $11 million, while Point gets a bridge deal. Point will again be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights when this deal expires.
The 23-year-old Point has done everything he can to increase his value, going from 18 goals and 40 points his rookie year to 32 and 66 in 2017-18 to last year’s big numbers that included a plus-27.
Point did only have one goal in the Lightning’s shocking four-game sweep by Columbus in the first round of the playoffs.
Point had been playing on a three-year, entry-level deal with a $686,667 cap hit
Some of the big free agents still unsigned are Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor of the Jets, Mikko Rantanen of the Avs and Matthew Tkachuk of the Flames.