Looking to shore up their offence and address their depth, the Tampa Bay Lightning have come to terms with unrestricted free agent, Tyler Motte, on a one-year deal worth $800,000.
Motte was a very popular candidate for several teams as a potential PTO signee with training camp right around the corner. Some had even pegged Motte as an ideal candidafe for a PTO in Toronto. The physical bottom-6 forward, instead, found himself a 1-year contract with a divisional rival instead.
The 28-year-old has spent parts of 7 seasons in the NHL with 5 different clubs in the Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, and the Ottawa Senators. He is coming off of his best statistical season with 19 points in 62 games - split between Ottawa and New York - he also averaged 12:34 TOI, and played a pivotal role on the penalty kill as he does so well.
The Lightning entered the off-season with loads of question marks yet again as they were unable to retain Alex Killorn and Corey Perry and were forced into trading Ross Colton. They brought in Conor Sheary, Logan Brown, and Calvin de Haan, while extending Tanner Jeannot.
In a corresponding move, forward, Josh Archibald was placed on waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract. This makes way for Motte to retain a spot in the bottom-6 and should add to the Lightning's flexibility down the middle with Brayden Point, Anthony Cirelli, Nick Paul, Logan Brown and Luke Glendening as natural centres.
