The Tampa Bay Lightning are preparing for what should be a busy summer. After a short playoff run, it would not be surprising in the slightest if they look to make some new additions to their roster.
While bringing in some new talent should be one of the Lightning's top goals of the off-season, they also have another important move to make with one of their current players. Gage Goncalves is a pending restricted free agent, and it is crucial for the Lightning to re-sign him to his next contract after the nice step forward he took this season.
After multiple successful seasons in the AHL with the Syracuse Crunch, Goncalves broke out with the Lightning this campaign and proved that he is ready for the NHL. In 60 games with the Atlantic Division squad, the 2020 second-round pick recorded eight goals, 12 assists, 20 points, and a plus-7 rating. This included recording 18 points in his final 33 games of the regular-season. Goncalves followed that up by recording one goal and four points in five playoff games for the Lightning.
Goncalves hit a new level as this season went on and is starting to become a nice part of the Lightning's forward group because of it. With the Lightning needing more young talent, re-signing Goncalves should be a no-brainer for them.
With Goncalves having limited NHL experience, a bridge deal may be the best course of action for both the player and the team. It will be intriguing to see what the 24-year-old's next contract looks like from here.
Lightning Should Consider Reuniting With Big Forward
One of the <a href="https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/tampa-bay-lightning">Tampa Bay Lightning</a>'s top goals this off-season should be to improve their forward depth. Their bottom six could use a bit of a boost, and they will have some interesting options to consider in free agency once it begins at the start of next month.
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