TAMPA, Fla. — The Lightning’s big splash Wednesday had little to do with the existing free-agent market, but instead ensures the franchise will keep its top, young core players in Lightning sweaters for the long term.
Defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak and center Anthony Cirelli were all slated to become restricted free agents after next season, but the Lightning signed all three to eight-year extensions that will keep them under team control through the 2030-31 season.
Sergachev’s deal is the most lucrative, netting him an average annual value of $8.5 million when it kicks in for the 2023-24 season. Cirelli’s extension is worth an annual average value of $6.25 million and Cernak will make an average of $5.2 million.
The moves are a huge investment in the future. All three players have been important pieces to the team’s run to three straight Stanley Cup Finals, which included back-to-back championships in 2020 and 2021, while steadily growing their games with increased roles.
Sergachev will become the Lightning’s highest-paid defenseman, making more than Victor Hedman’s $7.875 average annual value. He will also be one of the highest-paid players currently on the 2023-24 roster behind goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy ($9.5 million), wing Nikita Kucherov ($9.5 million) and Brayden Point ($9.5 million) and is tied with Steven Stamkos ($8.5 million).
The thrust of dealing defenseman Ryan McDonagh to Nashville was to free up enough cap space to allow the team to work on the extensions to all three players, who make up the Lightning’s 25-and-under core.
Sergachev, 24, has developed into an elite all-around defenseman and will move up to the second pair on the left side with McDonagh gone. Cirelli, 24, is one of the top two-way forwards in the game and Cernak, 25, has grown into one of the team’s top physical, shot-blocking defensemen and is on the first penalty-kill defenseman pair. All three players have significant special teams roles.
All three players signed three-year, team-friendly bridge contracts before the 2020-21 season, with Sergachev and Cirelli making $4.8 million a year and Cernak netting $2.95 million.
The Lightning would also like to retain center Ross Colton and defenseman Cal Foote, who are slated to become restricted free agents after next season.
The Lightning entered Wednesday with just 10 players under contract for the 2023-24 season, but after investing nearly $20 million in the trio for next year’s payroll, the Lightning salary cap number for the 2023-24 season is already at nearly $79 million, according to CapFriendly. But the Lightning can still utilize Brent Seabrook’s contract for $6.875 of long-term injured reserve relief, giving them $11.416 million of spending space under the anticipated $83.5 million salary cap.
