Lightning Sign Defenseman Ohlund to Seven-Year Contract

The Tampa Bay Lightning bolstered their blueline during the first hour of free agency on Wednesday by signing long-time Vancouver Canucks defenseman Mattias Ohlund to a seven-year contract worth $26.25 million. The deal averages out to $3.75 million per season. As the 2008-09 season progressed, it became less and less likely that Ohlund would re-sign with the Canucks in the off-season and instead focused their efforts on re-signing the Sedin twins. In all 82 games last season, Ohlund scored six goals and 19 assists for 25 points and 105 penalty minutes. In 770 career games, all with the Canucks, he has 93 goals and 232 assists for 325 points and 756 penalty minutes. This is a very good signing for the Lightning as Ohlund is a very physical defenseman with plenty of offensive skill and leadership qualities. He could end up playing alongside Andrej Meszaros, giving the Lightning a pretty decent top defensive pairing. Plus, Ohlund will also be a great mentor for Victor Hedman, whom the Lightning drafted second overall in the 2009 Entry Draft.

Canucks Name Luongo Team Captain

The Vancouver Canucks announced on Tuesday that have named goaltender Roberto Luongo as the team captain. Willie Mitchell, Mattias Ohlund, and Ryan Kesler were named the alternate captains on Tuesday as well. League rules state that a goaltender can be named team captain, but is not allowed to wear the "C" on his jersey. Mitchell will be the player designated to deal with the officials on a nightly basis, while Ohlund will deal with ceremonial aspects of the game, such as faceoffs. According to tsn.ca, only six goaltenders have served as team captains in NHL history, with Bill Durnan of the Montreal Canadiens being the last to do so during the 1947-48 season. The NHL passed a rule during the 1948-49 season that prohibited goaltenders from being able to act as team captains after Durnan repeatedly came out of his crease to argue with officials. Naming Luongo as team captain is a highly unusual move by the Canucks, as he cannot deal with the officials during a game. If Mitchell is going to be dealing with the officials in every game, then it would have made more sense to name him the team captain.