The Lightning have signed college free agent forward Dominic James to an entry-level contract, per a team press release. It’s a two-year deal for the 23-year-old, who was initially a Blackhawks draft pick but became an unrestricted free agent last month after failing to sign with them following his senior season at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
PuckPedia reports that the deal will carry a $910K cap hit and an AAV of $975K, breaking down as follows:
2025-26: $775K NHL salary, $97.5K signing bonus, $102.5K games played bonus
2026-27: $850K NHL salary, $97.5K signing bonus, $27.5K games played bonus
James, a sixth-round selection in the 2022 draft, had a strong showing for the Bulldogs in 2024-25 after losing most of his junior year to injury. He appeared in 35 games, serving as an alternate captain and leading the team in scoring with a 14-16–30 line. Those numbers brought him to 30 goals, 47 assists, and 77 points in 111 games for his collegiate career.
The Michigan native went undrafted twice before being selected by Chicago. In the 2021-22 campaign that preceded his selection, he worked his way onto the United States’ roster for the World Juniors, scoring one assist in five games at the tournament amid his freshman season in Duluth.
James wasn’t a huge loss for an already deep Blackhawks prospect pool. He didn’t check in as one of the top 15 names in the system to watch when Scott Wheeler of The Athletic did his last round of rankings in February. He could challenge as a top-10 or top-15 piece in a markedly weaker Tampa pool, though. He’s a significant addition for the club in that regard, especially after they lost a college free agent to the Avalanche when 2021 sixth-rounder Alex Gagne signed in Colorado a few weeks ago.
He’ll be ticketed to spend the year with the Bolts’ AHL affiliate in Syracuse. A midseason call-up wouldn’t be out of the question, but expecting him to compete for an NHL job – particularly after not starting camp with the Bolts – isn’t realistic.
Tampa has a solid track record in finding those hidden gems in the mid-to-late round picks. It will be interesting to see how Dominic James develops in the system.
The last guy Tampa took from Chicago was a rather young guy by the name of Brandon Hagel at the time which turned out to be quite the steal (Chicago has regrets on that now). Granted, the circumstances were a bit different between James and Hagel but my point is Tampa had success with the last guy (Hagel) that came from Chicago’s system so who knows how James will turn out.
The Hawks got Oliver Moore and Sacha Boisvert out of that deal. The draft picks were the prize. I don’t think they regret it all that much while Tampa never made it back to the big dance. Hagel is a nice player but Moore and Boisvert have a chance to be special. So enjoy. And James wouldn’t even see the ice for the Hawks so enjoy again. James knew he probably couldn’t even play for Rockford and would have probably been in the ECHL. So he ran away.
First off, Hagel is a star player & a special player at that, what are you talking about? A nice player? LOL! Moore & Boisvert will be lucky (very lucky) IF they reach the heights Hagel has reached so far. There is no guarantee they will either by any means but keep hoping for it. You’re downplaying things a lot here which is humorous. Yes, there has been inside reports of Chicago regretting trading Hagel as he was a diamond in the rough that they badly misread (Don’t worry, Buffalo did the same thing) and could have greatly benefited Conor Bedard (depending on who you ask, hasn’t truly lived up to the hype as he’s not the next Connor McDavid but maybe a Jack Hughes caliber player according to various experts but whatever).
As for James, he was in a system with many 1st round picks (which hasn’t paid off much & 1st round picks don’t guarantee anything) so it was smart of him to go elsewhere to maybe get an opportunity to prove himself.
Too funny. Hagel is a “Star” Player? That’s hilarious. He’s at best a complimentary piece and dogged Forechecker. I’m not saying those aren’t fine qualities. Heck even Raddysh provided Hagel like contributions here for 1 year. As for James if as you say 1st round picks don’t mean much Then why didn’t he try to prove he belonged? I’ll tell you why because he doesn’t have the drive he’ll need to succeed in the NHL. If he knows he can’t beat the Hawks 1st round picks, Who’s he gonna beat in the NHL. Your post is a dramedy. And I bet if you asked the Lightning that if they knew those picks would fall at 18 and 19 in the first round they don’t make that deal. Hagel is not leading anybody to the promised land as evidenced he’s not even leading them past Florida LOL. So keep trying. Boisvert is probably headed to being on Bedards line in the near future and Moore will either end up as C2 or 3 depending on where Bedard and Nazar end up. We’re perfectly happy the way it turned out. You’re trying to gloat about nothing so just give it a rest.
I suppose prior to last year one could say that Brandon Hagel was a complimentary player? He broke out last year in a big way and is one of the best 40 players in the league. He is an all situations stud and played for Team Canada in the 4 nations. Anybody that thinks he is is a “complimentary” player at this point is uninformed.
He may have been a complimentary piece in Chicago but in Tampa he is a 90-points star player.
And that’s the difference between the 2 organizations.
Having watched the guy for a few games, James is exactly the grit and energy the Hawks need.
Hagel a complimentary piece. Are you kidding. 2nd team NHL All Star last year, will likely be on the olympic team this year. Every team in the league would love to have him.
Your prospects are prospects, hope they pan out. I grew up in Chicago and enjoyed their ride thru 2015. Hope the Hawks show some improvement this year. However, they fell off the cliff soon after. Disappointing.
The lightning are the measuring stick of relevancy and competitiveness and success. They will be right back in the mix again this year. They will have the forward depth they lacked last season and will be in the playoffs looking to make a run. And next year, if not later this year, when McDavid comes to town, they will make a few more runs over the next few years.
The Hawks and all their prospects are still bottom feeders in this league. I hope they take a step this year.