The Lightning have signed forward Zemgus Girgensons to a three-year deal worth $2.55M ($850K per season), per a team release. It’s Girgensons’ first NHL stop outside of Buffalo, where he spent the first 10 seasons and 688 games of his career.
Girgensons, now 30, will help replenish some of the forward depth the Lightning lost today at an extremely reasonable cost-controlled deal to boot. The 6-foot-2 Latvian will likely slot into a fourth-line role in Tampa, potentially skating on the wing alongside Luke Glendening and Jesse Ylönen, another one of Tampa’s UFA pickups Monday.
A decent middle-six checking forward with flexibility at center in his younger days, he’s slipped to fourth-line status in Buffalo the last two years. 2023-24 marked his first season without reaching the 10-goal mark since 2018-19, limited to eight goals and 14 points in 63 games.
His 11:51 average time on ice was also a career-low, and it’s hard to imagine him earning much more with the Bolts with others like Mitchell Chaffee, Michael Eyssimont and Conor Sheary providing a bit more offensive upside at the moment.
Girgensons will now remain in Tampa through the 2026-27 season in his depth role, and could be buried in the minors without penalty if he declines past the point of being an NHL regular.
