Lightning Sign Brandon Hagel To Lucrative Extension
It’s safe to say that the Lightning have no regrets over the Brandon Hagel trade. Hagel has been a hit in Tampa’s system and he’s now been rewarded for his efforts cashing in on a big money extension. The former Blackhawks winger will sign a contract extension with Tampa worth $52 million over the next eight years.
The Lightning team account was the first to report the news:
TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning signed forward Brandon Hagel to an eight-year contract extension worth an average annual value of $6.5 million, vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois announced today. The contract extension will begin with the 2024-25 season.
Hagel, 24, is a damn good player that set career highs across the board a season ago. Hagel pocked 30 goals and 34 assists in 2022-23. That’s including a +23 rating across 18:39 minutes of ice time per game. Hagel spent a lot of time this year on the third line and probably could have put up bigger numbers if he had been skating with guys like Kucherov and Stamkos.
He’s also a forechecking monster and fits exactly what Tampa Bay wants to do. Just a really good all around player and worth the raise. Young and only getting better. Competes his tail off too and doesn’t make stupid mistakes. A total rat around the net too.
It should also be mentioned that the cap is going up in a sizeable way next year. Teams are finally going to get out from cap hell. Tampa Bay has already committed money to the increased cap. If you’re going to do it, keeping a really good player in-house is probably the correct call.
