Tampa Bay Lightning re-sign Ondrej Palat to five-year deal

The Tampa Bay Lightning and 26-year old forward Ondrej Palat have come to terms on a five-year deal. The contract will see Palat make an average of $5.3 million per season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have come to terms on a five-year deal with 26-year old forward Ondrej Palat. The five-year deal will see Palat make $5.3 million per season. Palat made his first appearance in the NHL with the Lightning in 2012-13, and he has been a full-time NHL forward since 2013-14.

Taken in the 7th round, 208th overall, by the Lightning back in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, expectations were understandably low for Palat. But since breaking onto the scene for the Lightning in 2012-13 Palat has been a mainstay in the lineup, and rightly so.

Palat has played in 307 games for the Lightning since 2012-13, and his production has been fantastic for a 7th round selection. Palat has 74 goals and 144 assists in those 307 games, with a career-high 63 points back in 2014-15 in the form of 16 goals and 47 assists.

Despite having never played in all 82 games in a single season, Palat has broken the 40-point mark in each of his last four seasons. Generally floating just under the 20-goal mark, Palat makes his presence felt through distributing the puck. Palat has finished with 35-plus assists in three of the last four seasons. And the only one he didn’t, 24 in 2015-16, was because he only played in 62 games that season.

Aside from his impressive point production, the analytics also point to his effectiveness. Palat’s 2.46 Relative Corsi-For percentage last season was good for fifth on the Lightning roster last season. Palat only trailed Vladislov Namestnikov (2.53), Brayden Point (2.73), Victor Hedman (3.62), and Nikita Kucherov (6.01).

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With both the point production and the analytics pointing to his efficiency, this is widely accepted as a very good deal for the Lightning. The $5.3 million cap hit will see Palat as the fourth highest paid player on the Lightning roster, behind only Ryan Callahan ($5.8 million), Victor Hedman ($7.875 million), and Steven Stamkos ($8.5 million).