The Nashville Predators and New Jersey Devils get high marks for their kickoff to NHL free agency. The Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins get the opposite, says Adam Proteau. Victor Hedman [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjA3NTY1OTc2NjIxODE5MTY1/usatsi_23129355_168400847_lowres.jpg] Victor Hedman The Tampa Bay Lightning may have let Steven Stamkos walk, but they got defenseman Victor Hedman signed to a four-year contract extension. Hedman's new contract carries an $8-million average annual value and will kick in for the 2025-26 season and last until the summer of 2029. The 33-year-old is currently in the final year of an eight-year deal with a $7.875-million cap hit. In 78 games this past season, Hedman recorded 13 goals and 65 assists for 76 points, the second-highest total of his career next to his 85-point campaign in 2021-22. Hedman continues to be a first-pair left-shot defenseman who averaged 24:48 of ice time in 2023-24. He also blocked 102 shots last season. Lightning GM Julien BriseBois told reporters yesterday [https://x.com/Gabby_Shirley_/status/1807920466755256634] he had talked to Hedman on Monday morning and to his agent a couple of times in the days prior but took a bit of a break as free agency opened and now-former captain Stamkos joined the Nashville Predators. While the team waited to negotiate with Stamkos until after the end of their season, Hedman's contract extension was completed on the second possible day. And Hedman will continue to lead the defense group by example, with 1,052 career games played, 728 points, a Norris Trophy win in 2017-18, two Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021 and a Conn Smythe Trophy in 2020. He had 43 more points than the Lightning's next highest-scoring blueliner, with Darren Raddysh's 33 points. While Mikhail Sergachev averaged more than a point every two games in the 34 games he played, the Lightning traded him to the Utah Hockey Club to free cap space. Tampa Bay had already re-acquired fellow left-shot D-man Ryan McDonagh earlier in its off-season and played similar minutes as Sergachev. The team used much of that added cap space to trade for forward Jake Guentzel's signing rights from the Carolina Hurricanes and sign him to a seven-year contract with a $9-million cap hit. Hedman now joins a decent-sized list of Lightning players under contract for at least the next four seasons, including forwards Brayden Point, Guentzel, Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli and Nick Paul, D-man Erik Cernak and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy. As for the rest of this off-season, the Lightning [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning/] have about $5 million in cap space, with newly acquired J.J. Moser still an RFA. The 24-year-old who played the first three seasons of his career with the Arizona Coyotes is another left-shot defenseman who had 21 assists and 26 points in 80 games this past season, averaging 20:34 of ice time per game. Get the latest news and trending stories right to your inbox by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here [https://info.thehockeynews.com/mail/microsites/951/1/gTeQVf?_gl=1*ustlbj*_ga*NjkyMzUxMy4xNjYzNjIwMzQ3*_ga_PK63FB1PME*MTcxMzUwOTExNi40NDguMS4xNzEzNTA5MjA5LjU5LjAuMA..].
