Palat Signs 5-Year Contract with Devils | RELEASE

The New Jersey Devils today signed unrestricted free-agent forward Ondrej Palat to a five-year contract worth $30,000,000 with an annual average value of $6,000,000. The announcement was made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Tom Fitzgerald.
Palat, 31, spent parts of the last 10 seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning and totaled 49 points (18g-31a) in 77 regular-season games last season. He led Tampa Bay with three game-winning goals, 11 goals (tied) and a +10 rating during the 2021-22 Stanley Cup Playoffs. His 21 points (11g-10a) also ranked second on the team for the playoffs.
The 6-foot, 195-pound forward won back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships with Tampa in 2019-20 and 2020-21 and won three consecutive Eastern Conference championships from 2019-20 to 2021-22. A proven winner, Palat has made the playoffs in 11 of his 12 hockey seasons dating back to the start of his career in the QMJHL (two QMJHL playoffs, two AHL playoffs and seven of eight NHL seasons).

The left-handed shot earned 423 career points (143g-280a) in 628 regular-season games and has recorded 94 post-season points (48g-46a) in 138 career Stanley Cup Playoff contests. The 423 career points rank seventh all-time for Tampa's franchise history and his career plus/minus rating (+147) is tied with Victor Hedman for the best in Lightning franchise history. His 94 post-season points rank third all-time in Tampa's franchise history behind Nikita Kucherov (154) and Victor Hedman (107). The forward's 94 career tallies also rank fourth all-time for Czech-born skaters, and his 12-career game-winning goals in the postseason rank second all-time for Czech-born players behind Jaromir Jagr (16). Those 12 career game-winners are also the most recorded by any NHL skater in the playoffs since his rookie campaign in 2012-13.
Born March 28, 1991, the native of Frydek-Mistek, Czech Republic, Palat was Tampa's seventh round draft pick, 208th overall, in the 2011 NHL Draft. Before his professional experience, Palat spent the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) with the Drummondville Voltigeurs. He earned 136 career points (56g-80a) in 120 regular-season games and totaled 13 points (5g-8a) in 17 career postseason games. His 96 points in 2010-11 led Drummondville, which also ranked fourth for the QMJHL. Additionally, Palat won a Calder Cup with Tampa's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, Norfolk Admirals, in 2011-12, and led Norfolk that postseason with 19 assists and 26 points.
Palat represented his home country in the International Ice Hockey Federation's (IIHF) U18 World Junior Championship (WJC) in 2018 and the U20 WJC in 2011. He earned three goals and one assist in 12 total games at both tournaments. Palat has also represented the Czech Republic at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, 2016 World Cup of Hockey and the 2019 World Championships.
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