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Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Brandon Hagel To Eight-Year Extension

August 22, 2023 at 11:50 am CDT | by Ethan Hetu 31 Comments

11:50 AM: CapFriendly has provided the financial breakdown of Hagel’s extension:

2024-25: $1.82MM + $7.18M SB
2025-26: $2.5MM + $6.5M SB
2026-27: $6.75MM
2027-28: $5.45MM
2028-29: $4.45MM + $1M SB
2029-30: $4.45MM + $1M SB
2030-31: $4.45MM + $1M SB
2031-32: $4.45MM + $1M SB

8:30 AM: The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Brandon Hagel to an eight-year contract extension, carrying an AAV of $6.5MM. The deal will start in the 2024-25 season, at the expiry of Hagel’s current $1.5MM AAV deal. Hagel, who will turn 25 on Sunday, was set to become a restricted free agent next summer.

This contract is a significant one for both Hagel and the Lightning franchise. For Hagel, he’s committing himself to Tampa Bay for what is likely to be the prime of his playing career. The deal will stretch from his age-26 season (2024-25) through 2031-32, Hagel’s age-33 season.

For Tampa Bay, the team has now invested a significant portion of their available cap space for the rest of the decade into Hagel, betting that his strong form from 2022-23 will not only be maintained into future seasons, but built upon.

Hagel was originally a late-round draft choice by the Buffalo Sabres at the 2016 draft but was not tendered an entry-level contract by the team. He signed with the Chicago Blackhawks at the conclusion of his WHL career and made an instant impact with the team’s AHL affiliate in 2019-20, leading the team in goals with 19.

In 2020-21 Hagel became a full-time NHLer, scoring at a decent clip, 24 points in 52 games. In August 2021, the Blackhawks made the prudent choice to sign Hagel to a three-year, $1.5MM AAV contract extension, a deal that paid immediate dividends.

Hagel’s scoring numbers in the NHL began to look quite a bit more like what one would expect from a former WHL star, and in 55 games with the team, he scored 21 goals and 37 points. Heading into a rebuild, the Blackhawks chose to cash in on Hagel’s breakout as well as the immense surplus value he provided on a $1.5MM AAV deal and traded him to the Lightning, a cap-strapped team specifically targeting players who could outperform their cap hit by multiple degrees of magnitude.

Hagel had a slow start in Tampa, scoring just seven points in 22 regular-season games and six points in the team’s run to the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. But this past season, Hagel’s first full campaign in Tampa, he showed exactly why the Lightning surrendered two first-round picks and two young players in order to acquire him. He scored 30 goals and 64 points in 81 games, delivering consistent offensive quality in a top-six role.

He averaged 18:38 time-on-ice per game, a career-high, which ranked him fourth among Lightning forwards. Beyond just delivering offensive consistency and top-line production, Hagel’s two-way game also took a step forward. He averaged just a shade under two minutes per game on Tampa’s penalty kill, and even got a fifth-place Selke Trophy vote for the NHL’s best defensive forward.

While this contract certainly carries some risk — Hagel has only been a true top-line forward in the NHL for one, maybe two sesons — it’s easy to see why Tampa has gambled on Hagel as a key party of their future. He’s been a healthy, productive, generally consistent all-around player who still has room to improve. The team isn’t buying any seasons in Hagel’s mid-to-late thirties with this deal, minimizing the room for this deal to age poorly in its later years.

While $6.5MM places Hagel in the financial company of players such as Evgeni Malkin, Chris Kreider, Sam Reinhardt, Claude Giroux, and William Nylander, forwards who have all reached higher offensive heights than Hagel, the cap hit should look more appropriate as the league’s upper limit rises in the near future.

Additionally, seeing as the Lightning likely believe Hagel still has room to grow offensively, there is always the possibility that Hagel makes this $6.5MM price tag look like a steal down the line. If he can get even more regular time on the powerplay next to stars like Nikita Kucherov and Brayden Point, Hagel could potentially score 40 goals or 70 points in the future. But even if that doesn’t come to pass, as the cap rises this $6.5MM cap hit is an eminently reasonable price to pay for the prime years of a player like Hagel.

Adding this contract extension to the extensions signed by other ascending Lightning players, such as Erik Cernak, Mikhail Sergachev, and Anthony Cirelli, it’s clear that Tampa Bay is working towards building a core group of players for the rest of the decade and beyond.

The team is intent on continuing to compete even as franchise icons such as Steven Stamkos and Victor Hedman advance deeper into their thirties, and now with all of these extensions signed Tampa Bay has made sure that if those veterans ever get their names etched into the Stanley Cup for a third time, it will be alongside new core players, such as Hagel.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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View Comments (31)

Comments

  1. Unclemike1525

    2 years ago

    Look I’m the first person to root for Brandon Hagel, Loved the guy when he was a Hawk, But what they paid to get him and what they signed him for the Lightning are going a bit overboard. Davidson had no choice but to take that trade and the Debrincat trade. Those 2 trades will fuel the Hawks for quite awhile.

    5
    Reply
  2. slash1001

    2 years ago

    I am more than a casual hockey fan, but no expert in cap-ology or the deep details of roster construction. Can someone explain to me why this isn’t a dramatic overpay, even if the salary cap goes up next year?

    3
    Reply
    • thegreatgoodbye

      2 years ago

      I was thinking the same thing….Hagel has 1 60pt season in his career, last year, and got 500k less then Troy Terry whose had back-to-back 60+ pt seasons…but as a non-Tampa fan, I can only think that Tampa thinks he’s poised for a 70-80pt season and they want to sign him now before he explodes….also maybe they are not re-signing Stamkos next year and think their top 4 going forward will be Kucheov, Point, Cirelli and Hagel

      Reply
    • Unclemike1525

      2 years ago

      I can’t. So far for Hagel and Debrincat the Hawks get:
      Boris Katchouk
      Taylor Raddysh
      Kevin Korchinski
      Paul Ludwinski
      Oliver Moore
      2024 1st rd. pick
      2024 3rd rd pick.

      Raddysh scored 20 goals last year. Moore and Korchinski look to be studs. Ludwinski is supposed to be pretty good. 2 guys aren’t even here yet. Katchouk seems to be nothing special. That’s a pretty good return for 2 guys. As far as the cap goes, The Hawks did the Lightning a bunch of favors that allowed them their Cups. They took Tyler Johnson off their hands for 3 years when he was hurt and saved them 15 million. They traded them Brent Seabrook who was never going to play again so the could circumvent the cap by puuting him on LTIR forever and getting both teams out of Cap nightmares. I don’t know if there’s a payback but they have made some cozy cap deals over the years. DeBrincat wanted a big deal the Hawks didn’t want to pay and was going to get a big arbitration number which is why they traded him. And he wouldn’t sign a long term extension.

      2
      Reply
    • Spaced-Cowboy

      2 years ago

      A 60+ point player with a high defensive acumen is going to be worth the money. He is no Anze Kopitar, but he is a solid top 6 forward who is just hitting his prime. Smart move to lock him up.

      4
      Reply
    • Johnny Z

      2 years ago

      “their top 4 going forward will be Kucheov, Point, Cirelli and Hagel”
      Then Cerelli has a lot to prove this year. He did not how up last year offensively!

      Reply
    • Eric05216969559

      2 years ago

      Huh? He just put up 30 goals and 64 points….. How is 6.5 mil per year an overpay??? First of all, for 30 goals and 60 plus points that’s worth 6 plus million, add in fact he’s in mid-20’s, good defensively as well playing on penalty kill, AND the cap will be going up 4-4.5 million per season over beginning of his deal starting, and this contract will be insane steal.

      1
      Reply
    • IronRanger

      2 years ago

      And Hagel’s motor doesnt quit. He reminds me of a gnat that is constantly irritating whoever he is playing against. Not only that but he always seems to be in front of the net at the right time. He is a puckhound and like you said….a steal!!!

      Reply
  3. wreckage

    2 years ago

    Wish I could read the article, but its covered in ads.

    4
    Reply
    • Unclemike1525

      2 years ago

      Download Ghostery on your computer and you won’t have to worry about ads. The free one. You don’t have to pay although they’ll ask you.

      Reply
    • Spaced-Cowboy

      2 years ago

      I agree. The ad overlay is covering up the actual article.

      1
      Reply
    • wreckage

      2 years ago

      I’m on a mobile Mike.

      Reply
    • MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend

      2 years ago

      @wreckage, @Unclemike1526, @Spaced-Cowboy – If you are using a PC, consider installing uBlock-Origin. It only takes a minute or so to configure and works. It’s highly effective, and can really put the screws to NHL.com’s garbage spam, among others. uBlock-Origin is available for Chrome, Chromium, MS Edge, Opera, Firefox, and all Safari releases prior to 13. If you’re using Chrome, make sure to pick uBlock-Origin, not just “uBlock”, as an imposter was reported to have infiltrated their Web Store.

      @wreckage, you may need to look for it for your mobile browser, as I don’t own a device to check.

      1
      Reply
    • wreckage

      2 years ago

      @Mac, I’ve never had this issue on this site before. There were ads, but they didn’t cover up any of the article or comments. I’m guessing someone messed with their coding.

      Guess I’ll just wait for Wilf to comment and assume the opposite is the correct train of thought.

      3
      Reply
    • MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend

      2 years ago

      @wreckage – I’ve never had the issue with the articles in general, using uBlock, but the polls wouldn’t show up, which isn’t a real deal-breaker for me. Maybe this is a one-off coding error affecting most of the membership.

      1
      Reply
    • wreckage

      2 years ago

      Just looked at mlbtr and they have addressed the issue there. It’s an issue with the website version. Some new advertisers have wrecked their coding. I asked them to post something over here addressing the issue.

      2
      Reply
    • Unclemike1525

      2 years ago

      Mac- Ghostery blocks the main poll but if you look in the article there’s usually a link there you can click on that gets you there. I don’t know about the one you said you are using.

      2
      Reply
    • MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend

      2 years ago

      @Unclemike1526 – @Brian brought that up a short time ago, maybe due to me asking where the poll was, then finding out that a basic test browser profile would show everything. Unfortunately, that’s a lot like strolling around the neighborhood in some tattered BVDs. My blocker works everywhere, and can be adjusted when a site gets broken from overly aggressive settings. Since @Brian added those links, I can get to the polls without issue, and don’t have to put up with spammy crap anywhere. Another option here is to use “Reader view”, which may help. I just tested in a junk profile, and I don’t mind telling you I so don’t miss that spam garbage. Reader view showed the article with no extras, just Hagel’s pic. No Google popup crap, or “Little blue pills” junk, either.

      1
      Reply
  4. fightcitymayor

    2 years ago

    If Tampa thinks Hagel is a future cornerstone then god bless ’em for putting their money where their mouth is, but we all know these are the sorts of contracts that the media/fans will zero in on and ask “What were you thinking?!?” if/when it goes south.

    1
    Reply
    • Johnny Z

      2 years ago

      These kind of deals are working out well in Buffalo!

      Reply
  5. Bucky76

    2 years ago

    40 goal man this year for sure probably around 80 pts too..

    Reply
    • Spaced-Cowboy

      2 years ago

      I don’t see that quite yet. Depends on how they decide to deploy him. I do agree that he’s going to be good, and possibly their best forward in 2-3 years. 25-40G/40-55A kind of player, especially considering the talent around him. So yes, I smell a sleeper here, and they did give up a questionable amount of assets to get him. I’ll clarify, questionable amount at the time. What I originally thought was a cap conscious move, seems more and more like a long term play by TB. Hopefully I don’t have to eat a crow.

      Reply
  6. deepseamonster32

    2 years ago

    something is wrong with this article as the ads are blocking out parts of the article

    Reply
    • MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend

      2 years ago

      @deepseamonster32 – See my comment above for advice.

      Reply
    • deepseamonster32

      2 years ago

      yeah it’s something different. like they missed a part of the code for this specific article.

      i appreciate your advice. thank you

      Reply
    • MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend

      2 years ago

      @deepseamonster32 – I’m not seeing anything out of the ordinary? Where do see the discombobulation?

      Reply
  7. User 318310488

    2 years ago

    That’s alot of money for a 3rd line winger but after BriseBois ridiculous trade for Jeannot late last season this isn’t surprising.

    Reply
    • Eric05216969559

      2 years ago

      Huh? He just put up 30 goals and 64 points….. How is 6.5 mil per year an overpay??? First of all, for 30 goals and 60 plus points that’s worth 6 plus million, add in fact he’s in mid-20’s, good defensively as well playing on penalty kill, AND the cap will be going up 4-4.5 million per season over beginning of his deal starting, and this contract will be insane steal.

      Reply
  8. FromNorthYorktoFernwood

    2 years ago

    Move them ads phr

    Reply
    • MacJablonski--NotVegasLegend

      2 years ago

      @FromNorthYorktoFernwood – Or, just install a good ad blocker. ;)

      Reply
  9. wreckage

    2 years ago

    Ad problem appears to be fixed. Thanks phr behind the scenes guys!

    1
    Reply

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