Most of us know the old cartoon quote from Whimpy. If not as the cartoons aired on the old black and white televisions then as an oft used query.
“I’ll gladly repay you Tuesday for a hamburger today”
Well, the Tampa Bay Lightning are getting close to needing that phrase turned to a hockey meaning.
On Tuesday, the Lightning signed Nikita Kucherov to an eight-year deal worth a reported $96 million to take effect in the 2019-20 NHL season.
Right Wing Nikita Kucherov (#86) of the Tampa Bay Lightning
The cap, hit according to CapFriendly.com, is $9,5 million annually.
“Definitely huge for me and for my family,” Kucherov said. “Being locked up for the long term here and to be able to not think about the contract and stuff during the season … I’m happy to be here. I’m happy to be in Tampa. We have a good chance to win the Stanley Cup and that’s the reason I like Tampa.
“I love living here. It’s good weather. … I didn’t think twice when I had a chance to sign.”
The signing comes on the heels of the Bolts signing Ryan McDonagh with a $6.75 million cap hit beginning in the 19-20 season.
Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman was queried on the next moves for the club considering the big contracts and their desire to land Erik Karlsson from the Ottawa Senators.
“I don’t think it’s impossible,” Yzerman said on NHL.com. “But if you just look at our one-way commitments for the following season. We still have cap space left for this year to add if we wanted. But if we were to bring in a significant contract we would have to make the money work so to speak, and going forward it would be the same situation beyond this year.”
The Lightning have just under $3.5 million in cap space left.
I will gladly repay you Tuesday for a hockey game today.
In other signings Tuesday, Patrick Maroon signed with the St Louis Blues for $1.75 million for one year.
Maroon, 30, had 17 strikes and 43 points while icing for the New Jersey Devils and Edmonton Oilers. The 43 points were a career high.
Maroon is a St Louis native.
“One of the great things is how badly he wanted to come back and play at home,” Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said on NHL.com. “It’s a one-year opportunity for him to come back, hopefully play with some really good centermen and get back to that 27-goal performance he had in Edmonton (in 2016-17), or close to it.
Defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere (#53) of the Philadelphia Flyers and Left Wing Patrick Maroon (#19) of the Edmonton Oilers. Maroon scores.
“We think he can help our team. I talked to some of our players about him, competing against him, and they spoke very highly about how hard he was to play against, how difficult he was to move in those high-traffic areas. It’s just another player we add to our group that makes us a little better than we were yesterday.”
The Blues have just south of $3.3 million in cap space left.
“We see versatility and size (in Maroon),” Armstrong said on the St Louis Post Dispatch web site. “We certainly see him in our group of nine.
“The way we’ve constructed our center ice now, with three center icemen that can play against anyone, it just adds to that group that Mike (Yeo) can put out there at any time.
“And also, a big body that can help us on the power play in front of the net. A big body with soft hands.”
The Blues still have an arbitration case with restricted free agent Joel Edmundso. The $3 million in cap space will disappear quickly after that decision is made and the Blues may need to trade an asset or two.
File photos courtesy of Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com
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