Lightning signs F Zemgus Girgensons to three-year contract

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed free agent forward Zemgus Girgensons to a three-year contract worth $850,000 annually, vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois announced today.

Girgensons, 30, played 63 regular-season games with the Buffalo Sabres in 2023-24, registering eight goals and 14 points while averaging 11.33 hits per 60 minutes, the most of any Buffalo skater. A native of Riga, Latvia, Girgensons has served as an alternate captain in each of the last three seasons and has played in 688 career NHL games, all with the Sabres, registering 89 goals and 188 points. A 2015 NHL All-Star, he leaves Buffalo ranked second among all skaters in Sabres franchise history in hits (1,239) and 10.^th for games played.

Internationally, Girgensons has represented Latvia in numerous tournaments, including the IIHF Men’s Under-18 World Championship, the World Junior Championship and the Men’s World Championship.

Girgensons, who is 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, was drafted by the Sabres in the first round, 14th overall.^th overall, from the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.