The Tampa Bay Lightning signed free agent forward Cam Atkinson on Tuesday to a one-year contract worth $900,000, the team announced.
Atkinson wasn't headed into free agency when the Philadelphia Flyers' regular season ended in April, but a contract buyout on Friday opened a new world for the veteran forward who has battled injury throughout his career.
At 35, Atkinson, who was about to enter into the final season of a seven-year contract worth $5.875 million annually, is a two-time All-Star who had 23 goals, his seventh 20-goal campaign, and 50 points in 73 games in his first season in Philadelphia in 2021-22.
He missed the 2022-23 season while recovering from herniated disk surgery, then returned this past season, finishing with 13 goals and 28 points in 70 games.
A 2008 sixth-round selection of the Columbus Blue Jackets and a Connecticut native, Atkinson played three years at Boston College, finishing with 68 goals and 124 points. The Eagles won the Frozen Four in 2010 with Atkinson on the roster, and he was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award in 2011 as the NCAA's top player.
