A veteran with loads of NHL experience is moving across the country.
On Friday, the Tampa Bay Lightning signed forward Jansen Harkins to a one-year, two-way contract. According to PuckPedia, the deal carries an NHL cap hit of $850,000, a minor-league salary of $250,000, with a guaranteed salary of $400,000 through the 2026-27 season.
Harkins goes from one sunny climate to another. The 29-year-old spent the last two seasons in the Anaheim Ducks system. After splitting the 2024-25 campaign between the Ducks and their American Hockey League affiliate, the San Diego Gulls, he spent the entirety of the 2025-26 season with Anaheim. Due to injuries and being a healthy scratch, Harkins appeared in just 44 games before hand surgery in late March ended his year.
The Cleveland, Ohio native scored three goals and five assists for eight points, his highest point total in a single NHL season since his career-high 13-point performance during the 2021-22 season with the Winnipeg Jets. He also added a goal in three Stanley Cup Playoff games, as the Ducks managed to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2018.
In 305 regular-season games in the NHL across seven seasons, which included a one-year stop with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Harkins has scored 18 goals and 27 assists for 45 points, with two goals in seven postseason contests. In 225 AHL regular-season affairs, he has scored 62 goals and 99 assists for 161 points, with seven points coming in seven Calder Cup Playoff games.
The signing is slightly notable, as Harkins’ new contract means that teams in the NHL have spent over $1 billion since free agency opened on Wednesday.
And with the Jansen Harkins signing, we have now reached ONE BILLION in total contracts signed since July 1.
Jansen Harkins, the ONE BILLION DOLLAR MAN.
puckpedia.com/nhl-free-agency
