The Tampa Bay Lightning have reached an agreement with Ross Colton on a two-year deal worth $2.25 million. The deal will carry an AAV of $1.125 million and will carry him through the 2022-23 NHL Season. Elliott Friedman reported the news earlier in the day on Monday.
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1424794034137075715
Ross Colton Re-Signed
Colton was originally drafted by the Lightning in the fourth round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He went on to play two seasons with the University of Vermont before signing an entry level contract with the Bolts. Colton would continue to develop in the minor leagues, playing for Tampa Bay’s AHL affiliate, Syracuse Crunch. His 73 points over two full seasons with Syracuse earned him a one-year deal last October. The Lightning wanted to see what he was capable of in the NHL. He got that opportunity just a few months later.
On February 24, 2021, Colton made his NHL debut. He scored the first goal of the game, helping the Lightning defeat the Hurricanes 3-0. The young centreman became the ninth player in team history to score a goal in their first game. He joined only Nikita Kucherov to have it stand as the game-winner. Colton’s career highlight to this point, however, was the ending of a 23-game playoff run in which he played every game. The New Jersey native scored the only goal in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals as the Lightning went on to win 1-0 and hoist the Cup.
What This Means Going Forward
The Lightning have done an amazing job with their prospects over the last handful of seasons. Colton is just another example of it. After losing key pieces of their forward group like Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman and Barclay Goodrow, Tampa Bay needed to stabilize their bottom-six. The homegrown 24-year-old will help in doing that. After what he was able to show in a very impressive postseason, expect Colton to have a little more responsibility going into the 2021/2022 season.
