Lightning re-sign Palat to 5-year, $26.5M contract

The Tampa Bay Lightning re-signed restricted free-agent forward Ondrej Palat to a five-year, $26.5-million contract, the team announced Friday.

With the deal, the Lightning and Palat avoided their arbitration hearing, which was scheduled for July 25. Tampa has now locked up all of its pending free agents, with $3.25 million in cap space still available.

#TBLightning GM Steve Yzerman called Ondrej Palat a "model player" who teammates want to play with. "He's really a complete player."

- Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) July 14, 2017

The 26-year-old is coming off his fourth full season with the Lightning and third in which he eclipsed the 50-point plateau. He finished fourth in team scoring with 17 goals and 52 points in 75 games.

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