Right-winger Lee Stempniak signed a year, $5 million contract with the Carolina Hurricanes. Stempniak has journeyed across the NHL spending time with nine different teams throughout his previous 16 seasons in the NHL. Carolina will be his tenth.
Lee Stempniak, two years, $2.5M AAV, to CAR.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) July 1, 2016
Lee Stempniak Signs With Hurricanes
Lee Stempniak spent the majority of the 2015-16 season with the New Jersey Devils accumulating 16 goals and 25 assists in 63 games before being shipped up to Boston at the deadline. The 33-year-old was acquired in an attempt for a late post-season push but wasn’t able to find the same success he had in New Jersey tallying just three goals and 10 assists in 19 games with the club. He had six points in three games immediately after joining the Bruins.
Stempniak is a well-traveled customer, it’s the third time in as many years the West Seneca product has been moved at the deadline, and with good reason. The former 5th round pick of the St. Louis Blues has picked up 420 points in 790 games, and is consistently a possession driver, posting positive relative numbers in each of the last five seasons.
Stempniak can expect a healthy pay-raise on his $850’000 cap hit. He posted a career high 51 points this year and proved that he can be a valuable player when paired alongside decent line-mates. His most frequent partners in New Jersey were Adam Henrique and Mike Cammalleri, both of whom saw an uptick in performance when paired with Stempniak. Cammalleri posting his second highest point per 60 minutes since 2007-2008.
Stempniak offers a low-risk, affordable option for teams that need wing depth, and is a proven special-teams player. At 33-years-of-age he’s not going to surprise you, but when given an opportunity to succeed, like in New Jersey, he’s very capable of doing so.
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