Tampa Bay Lightning Sign Two Forwards

The Tampa Bay Lightning have been one of the busiest teams the past couple of weeks and their offseason business continued on Thursday as the team announced new contracts for forwards Alexander Volkov and Mathieu Joseph.

The 23-year-old Volkov's one-way one-year contract is worth $700,000. The depth forward will be looking to make more of an impact for the defending champs and hopes to appear in more games than the nine he dressed last season. The majority of his play came in the AHL for the Syracuse Crunch, where he finished the year with 30 points in 41 games. Volkov appeared in one playoff game which was enough to get his name engraved on the Stanley Cup.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have re-signed forward Alexander Volkov to a one-year, one-way contract worth $700,000. pic.twitter.com/stKhb4uAHF

— Complete Hockey News (@CompleteHkyNews) December 23, 2020

For Joseph, he signed a two-year contract worth $737,500 per season. The 23-year-old former 4th-round pick appeared in 37 games for the Lightning last season where he collected seven points. Joseph's deal is a one-way deal so he can expect to see some more ice time with the Lightning's big club over the course of the next two years.

The signings, along with those of defensemen Mikhail Sergachev and Erik Cernak, put the Lightning about $7.6 million over the $81.5 million flat salary cap. #TBLightning @TBLightning #GoBolts https://t.co/478ub8xoiV

— Sports by Tampa Bay Times (@TBTimes_Sports) December 23, 2020

The Lightning have most of their free agents signed now and the waiting game for Anthony Cirelli's deal continues. The team will need to make a major trade before they can fit everyone under the salary cap. If I was Tyler Johnson or Alex Killorn, I wouldn't buy green bananas.

Photo credit: John Crouch/Icon Sportswire