The Tampa Bay Lightning avoided a potentially contentious arbitration hearing with their newest defenseman as they signed J.J. Moser to a two-year contract with an annual average value of $3.375 million. According to Elliotte Friedman the Bolts will pay Moser $2.7 million next season and $4.05 million in 2025-26.
JJ Moser has a two-year, $3.375M settlement with Tampa Bay.
$2.7M in 2024-25
$4.05M in 2025-26— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 11, 2024
We previously broke down what Moser might bring to the Lightning next season, and in that discussion mentioned that Evolving Hockey had him projected for as a restricted free agent with arbitration rights. With the deal the Lightning have about $2,375,000 in cap space available according to PuckPedia [okay, this is the first transaction without CapFriendly, and it’s really weird..JG] with 12 forwards, 6 defensemen, and 2 goaltenders under NHL contracts.
The contract avoids an arbitration hearing with the young defender in which they would have to argue why they need to pay him less than what he was seeking. The 24-year-old will still be a restricted free agent when this deal expires, but if he meshes with the Lightning’s system it wouldn’t be surprising to see them hook him up with a bridge deal, or even a long-term deal, once he is eligible to extend next July. Just for note, with a $4.05 million salary in his second year, Tampa Bay would have to extend a qualifying offer of 100% of that salary. However, that is something to worry about down the road.
The signing wraps up Julien BriseBois’ big summer list of things to do. There is a chance he pulls off some sort of trade to boost the second-line scoring, but it wouldn’t be surprising if he chooses to roll into training camp with the roster he’s assembled. There are several internal possibilities for filling out the extra skater roles that will likely be determined in training camp.
Update: The Lightning confirmed the signing and AAV Thursday afternoon. Below is their official press release.
TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed defenseman J.J. Moser to a two-year contract worth an AAV of $3.375 million, vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois announced today.
Moser was acquired by Tampa Bay from the Utah Hockey Club via trade on June 29. A native of Biel, Switzerland, Moser skated in 80 games with the Arizona Coyotes last season, collecting five goals and 26 points to rank second among Coyotes defensemen for points and assists (21), and tied for second for goals. He averaged 20:34 time on ice per game, blocked 112 shots and logged 21 takeaways, all of which were the second-most among Arizona defensemen.
The 6-foot-1, 173-pound Moser was drafted by the Coyotes in the second-round pick (60th overall) of the 2021 NHL Draft. He has skated in 205 career NHL games, all with Arizona, posting 16 goals and 72 points.
