Lightning sign Max Crozier to three-year extension

The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced that they’ve signed defenseman Max Crozier to a three-year contract extension with a $775,000 cap hit.

Crozier was in the final year of his two-year entry-level contract with an $867,500 cap hit, and was set to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this offseason before signing his new deal. The deal does not come with any signing bonuses, clauses or salary structure adjustments, but it is a one-way contract, and will eat up one of Crozier’s unrestricted free agent years.

Crozier sees a drop in his pay from his previous contract by $92,500, with his new cap hit even coming in lower than his qualifying offer of $813,750. His cap hit will take up 0.81% of the Lightning’s salary cap when he’s on the NHL roster.

Crozier got into five games with the Lightning in the 2024-25 season, where he was held without a point in that span, although he did have the second-highest 5v5 expected goal share among Lightning defensmen with 59.64%, and expected goals against per 60 with 2.1 (albeit in a very small sample size). This comes after playing 13 games with the Lightning last season, where he registered two assists.

Crozier spent most of his time in the AHL with the Lightning’s minor-league affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, where he had 9 goals and 25 assists for 34 points in 52 games. He also was held pointless in 3 playoff games, as the Crunch were swept in the North Division Semifinals by the Rochester Americans.

The Lightning have already kept busy since they were eliminated in the first round to the Florida Panthers, as on top of extending some of their AHLers in Harrison Meneghin, Wojciech Stachowiak, Ryan Fanti and Steven Santini, they’ve also locked up backup goaltender Jonas Johansson to a two-year deal, and center Yanni Gourde to a six-year contract.