Tampa Bay Lightning re-sign Michael Bournival to a 1-Year Extension
Along with yesterday’s signing of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ondrej Palat, the team also reached a deal on a one-year contract extension with forward Michael Bournival.
The Tampa Bay Lightning, and more specifically Lightning Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman, have been incredibly busy since the doors opened in the Free Agency Period on July 1.
The team had a plethora of contracts in need of new signatures, and Yzerman has done a pretty good job of getting the right ink on the right contracts in a reasonable amount of time. Surprisingly enough, he has done all of this and still managed to keep the Lightning under the cap for the upcoming season.
Yesterday, the Bolts Nation was in a flurry as the news broke the team had come to terms with one of the last big pieces to the puzzle for the upcoming season; Lightning forward Ondrej Palat. Palat re-signed with the Lightning on a five-year contract extension worth an Average Annual Value of $5.3 million.
Tampa Bay Lightning
What most people here in the Bolts Nation were not aware of at the time, mainly due to the chaos surrounding the Palat extension, is Palat was not the only player to receive a shiny new contract yesterday afternoon. According to Joe Smith of the Tampa Bay Times, the Tampa Bay Lightning has re-signed forward Michael Bournival to a one-year, two-way contract worth $650,000.
Bournival’s journey into the NHL has been anything but an easy one. The now-25-year-old winger played just two games into the 2014-15 season when he was sidelined with a concussion which could have very well ended his NHL career. He would return to the ice in December, but just one month later, another hit to the head would sideline him once again.
Thankfully for Bournival, and the Tampa Bay Lightning, this was not the end of the line. Back on July 1, 2016, the Tampa Bay Lightning would sign a then-Free Agent Michael Bournival to a one-year, two-way contract. This provided Bournival with another chance to live his dream. Little did he know just how much the team would need him in the coming weeks.
Last season, the Tampa Bay Lightning was riddled with injuries. Both team captain Steven Stamkos and alternate captain Ryan Callahan were among a seemingly ever-growing list of players relegated to the sidelines and the team fought for position in the Atlantic Division.
During his call-ups to the main roster, Bournival was able to play a total of 19 games with the Lightning. In this amount of time, the Quebec native was able to score two goals and an assist for a total of three points. He would spend a whopping total of two minutes in the penalty box.
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Bournival spent most of his time last season with the Lightning’s AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch. In the 38 games the winger played with the Crunch, he was able to bring home nine goals and 10 assists for a total of 19 points along with a plus/minus rating of plus-15. The one difference is, he would sit in the sin bin for 18 minutes with the Crunch.
The Tampa Bay Lightning is stacked to the roof when it comes to talented forwards. This means Bournival is going to have to demonstrate some serious moves in the off-season if he wants to make the Lightning roster.
At the same time, even if he doesn’t crack the roster on Opening Night, you can bet the first time one of our forwards finds themselves on the injured list, Bournival will be one of the first people to hop a flight to the Sunshine State.
Next: Lightning re-sign Ondrej Palat to 5-Year Contract Extension
Bournival has a lot of potential, and could really make a name for himself over the next couple of seasons. If the injury bug would kindly find another target, it would be greatly appreciated. We can’t speak for everyone, but we here at Bolts By The Bay would really like to see what the future holds for Michael Bournival.