Tampa Bay Lightning: Brayden Point signs 3 year bridge deal
The Tampa Bay Lightning have locked up star winger Brayden Point for another three years. Is this a good deal for the player and team?
Brayden Point has signed a contract extension with the Tampa Bay Lightning for another three years at $6.75 million a season. At the end of the contract, Point will still be an RFA. This contract is an absolute steal for the Lightning.
Last season was Point’s breakout season. In 79 games, he put up 92 points (41 goals and 51 assists) and finished third on the team in points production. Considering the amount of talent on the Lightning’s roster, being third in production at just 23 years old is an incredible feat.
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Point has established himself as a top winger in the NHL on a powerhouse team that threatens to the Stanley Cup every season. To mess with this would be foolish on his part and it played a major role in his new contract.
The three years is interesting for term, but it also makes sense for Point. He now has three years to make a name for himself and return to the bargaining table with way more leeway.
Entering the contract talks in the summer, all he really had was a year of dominance to work with. Three years from now it will be a very different story.
As for the money, the Lightning have both Nikita Kucherov and Steven Stamkos making $9.5 million or under. There is no way they give Point more money than those two superstars and $6.75 million makes sense for the makeup of the team.
It seems like Julien Brisebois is doing a great job of maintaining Steve Yzerman‘s legacy of getting star players on team-friendly discounts. The Lightning have locked up their potent core for at least the next three years which gives them three legitimate cracks at the Stanley Cup before returning to the negotiating table.
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Point’s new contract adds a whole new range for the RFA winger market. Mitch Marner‘s 6×10.93 and Point’s 3×6.75 leaves a whole lot of wiggle room for the next big RFA fish, Mikko Rantanen. It will be interesting to see how these two contracts affect the Colorado Avalanche and their negotiations.