Today, the Tampa Bay Lightning finally lock up one of their last priorities by giving Ondrej Palat a five-year deal worth $26.5MM, as vice president and general managaer Steve Yzerman announced. 

 The 26-year old winger skated in 75 games with the Lightning during the 2016-17 season, posting 17 goals and 52 points.

 In addition, he was second among all Lightning forwards in total ice time (19:07).

 This was actually more of a priority over Tyler Johnson, as Palat is a better defender and an overall better two-way player. Johnson was re-signed a week ago.

 Finally, the Czech Republic native has appeared in 307 career NHL games, all with the Lightning over the past five seasons, collecting 74 goals and 218 points. Also, he has 14 career playoff goals.