Be sure to 'like' Hockeybuzz on Facebook!
Steve Yzerman and the Tampa Bay Lightning have kept another one of their own in town.
With an arbitration hearing set for Friday, the Lightning beat the buzzer on the always semi-contentious hearing with restricted free agent forward Vladdy Namestnikov by way of a new two-year deal worth $3.875 million in total ($1.9375 million cap hit). It’s the second time in less than a month that Yzerman has hammered out a deal before an arbitration hearing, as the Bolts did this with do-it-all forward Alex Killorn and his seven-year, $31.15 million contract back on July 17.
In his first full season with the Lightning, the 23-year-old Namestnikov put up career highs across the board in goals (14), assists (21), points (35), and in games played (80), and finished his season with one goal and three points in 17 postseason games with the Bolts. Overall, the 5-foot-11 forward has put up 23 goals and 51 points in 127 NHL games, and one goal and four points in 29 career playoff games.
When you look at the year Namestnikov had, it was his utilization that really stood out. There were times when the 27th overall pick from the 2011 Draft would find himself skating with Steven Stamkos on Tampa Bay’s first line, and then there were other stretches where he’d serve as one of the club’s spare parts as the 10th or 11th forward in the 11-forward, 7-defenseman group.
His best stretch undoubtedly came in January, where he put up four goals and 10 points in 11 games, including an impressive four-game run that came with multi-point nights in four of five contests (four goals and nine points overall), including a hat trick against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 15.
In other words, it’s time for Yzerman’s next tightrope act.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.