
According to Rogers Sportsnet on Sunday, the Tampa Bay Lightning have signed defenseman Calvin de Haan of Carp, Ontario to a one-year deal worth $775,000. The Lightning are de Haan’s fourth National Hockey League team following the New York Islanders, Carolina Hurricanes and Chicago Blackhawks.
This past season with Carolina, de Haan had two goals and 10 assists for 12 points. He was a +7 with 20 penalty minutes, 51 shots on goal, 49 blocked shots, 84 hits, 15 takeaways and 17 giveaways.
de Haan was initially the New York Islanders’s first round pick, 12th overall, in the 2009 National Hockey League Entry Draft. He played his junior career with the Oshawa Generals.
The Lightning have been one of the elite teams in the NHL over the last few years. They won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021. Both Stanley Cup championship teams had Canadian connections. In 2020, the Lightning beat the Dallas Stars in six games at Edmonton’s Rogers Place. Then a year later at the 2021 Stanley Cup Finals, Tampa Bay beat the Montreal Canadiens in five games.
Tampa Bay will be trying to bounce back now after not reaching the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time since 2019. In the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Lightning lost in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs in six games to the Toronto Maple Leafs.