According to The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Cam Atkinson will become an unrestricted free agent (UFA) on July 1 and look for a new opportunity elsewhere.
Atkinson, 36, signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with the Lightning this past July after being bought out by the Philadelphia Flyers.
The hope was that the veteran winger would provide the Lightning with more secondary scoring, but he had trouble finding his fit in Tampa Bay. In 39 games with the Lightning this season, Atkinson recorded four goals, nine points, and a minus-4 rating. He was also notably placed on waivers back in March by the Lightning.
In 809 career NHL games over 13 seasons split between the Columbus Blue Jackets, Flyers, and Lightning, Atkinson has recorded 253 goals, 236 assists, 489 points, and a minus-11 rating. It will be interesting to see if a team out there takes a shot on him this summer 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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