Killorn signs 4-year contract with Ducks

Alex Killorn signed a four-year contract with the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. Financial terms were not announced.

The 33-year-old forward had NHL career highs in goals (27), assists (37) and points (64) in 82 regular-season games for the Tampa Bay Lightning last season and five points (three goals, two assists) in six Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"It's definitely bittersweet," Killorn said. "I always pictured myself retiring in a Lightning uniform, but that wasn't the case. But looking forward, I'm so excited to be with Anaheim. It seems like what they have coming up the pipeline, it's going to be a real exciting team to watch the next couple of years. Looking forward, I'm super excited for the future."

The Ducks' young core includes forwards Trevor Zegras, Troy Terry and Mason McTavish, as well as defenseman Jamie Drysdale, and they chose center Video: Alex Killorn talks about his deal with Ducks with the No. 2 pick of the 2023 NHL Draft.

"Hearing that Video: Alex Killorn talks about his deal with Ducks, a guy that I started my career with, was great news for me, but talking with Pat (Verbeek, general manager) and Greg Cronin (coach), they're super excited about the future of this team," Killorn said. "The kid they picked No. 2 overall, there's going to be a lot of kids coming up and hopefully in a year or two, this is going to be a competitive team in the NHL."

Selected by Tampa Bay in the third round (No. 77) of the 2007 NHL Draft, Killorn is fifth in games (805), sixth in goals (198), eighth in assists (268) and seventh in points (466) in Lightning history.

His 77 points (37 goals, 40 assists) in the playoffs rank sixth in Tampa Bay history and his 140 games are third behind Victor Hedman (160) and Nikita Kucherov (142).

Killorn won the Stanley Cup in 2020 and 2021.

Verbeek got to know Killorn when he worked in the Lightning front office from 2010-19 and drew a comparison to Killorn's first season in 2012-13, when Tampa missed the playoffs but made the Stanley Cup Finals two years later.

"When I talked to Alex, I said, 'Our club needs leadership,'" Verbeek said. "It's important for our young guys to understand what compete's all about, what paying the price is all about, in the weight room, and being a complete professional, doing things the right way every minute of the day when they're at the rink."

RELATED: [Video: Alex Killorn talks about his deal with Ducks]

The Ducks also signed Gudas to a Video: Alex Killorn talks about his deal with Ducks. The 33-year-old defenseman had 17 points (two goals, 15 assists) in 72 regular-season games for the Florida Panthers last season and three assists in 21 playoff games.

"They have an understanding of what winning's all about, not accepting losing," Verbeek said. "There's instant credibility with these guys walking inside that locker room."

NHL.com senior fantasy editor Pete Jensen contributed to this report