The Tampa Bay Lightning kept busy by adding two forwards on Wednesday, landing Ilya Mikheyev on a four-year contract and bringing in Jeffrey Viel on a five-year deal.
Mikheyev’s contract carries an average annual value of $3.85 million. The 31-year-old spent last season with the Chicago Blackhawks, where he finished with 18 goals and 36 points in 77 games.
The 6-foot-2 winger was previously on a four-year, $19 million deal that came with a $4.04 million cap hit. He entered the league as an undrafted free agent signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019 and has since piled up 98 goals and 201 points across 427 career games with Toronto, Vancouver, and Chicago.
Mikheyev, who is from Omsk, Russia, also played for his country at the 2018 World Hockey Championship, where Russia finished sixth.
Viel’s contract is worth $12.5 million over five years, with an AAV of $2.5 million. The 29-year-old split the 2025-26 season between the Boston Bruins and Anaheim Ducks.
He went scoreless in 10 games with Boston, then added three goals and 10 points in 35 games with Anaheim. In the playoffs, Viel produced two goals and four points in 12 games before the Ducks were knocked out in the second round by the Vegas Golden Knights.
He was coming off a two-year, $1.55 million contract. The Rimouski, Que., native has appeared in 99 NHL games, collecting six goals and 15 points while playing for San Jose, Boston, and Anaheim.
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