Lightning sign Cirelli to 3-year, $14.4M deal

The Tampa Bay Lightning inked forward Anthony Cirelli to a three-year deal with an average annual value of $4.8 million, the team announced Thursday.

Cirelli will remain a restricted free agent when his deal expires after the 2022-23 campaign.

The 6-foot pivot recorded 16 goals and career highs in assists (28) and points (44) through 68 games in 2019-20. Cirelli added three goals and nine points in 25 playoff games during the Lightning's Stanley Cup run.

The 23-year-old has quickly established himself as one of the top two-way forwards in the league and his play took a massive leap last season.

Cirelli finished fourth in Selke Trophy voting after driving play at both ends of the ice at five-on-five, according to HockeyViz's isolated impact. (Red/positive is good in the offensive zone, while blue/negative is good in the defensive zone).

Tampa Bay has been facing a serious cap crunch all offseason and placed Nikita Kucherov's $9.5-million cap hit on long-term injured reserve after word that the star winger will miss the 2020-21 campaign following hip surgery.

The Lightning have no outstanding restricted free agents but are still slightly above the salary cap even with Kucherov's contract temporarily off the books.

Copyright (C) 2020 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.