Contract Status

TAMPA, Fla. – The Tampa Bay Lightning, NHL parent club of the Norfolk Admirals, have signed free agent right wing Michel Ouellet (wuh-LEHT) to a one-year, two-way contract today, Lightning vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced. The forward also played for the Lightning during the 2007-08 season.

Ouellet, 6-foot, 203 pounds, has spent the previous two seasons in Europe. Last year he played in 39 games for the Hamburg Freezers of the German Elite League, notching 11 goals and 28 points. He ranked fourth on the team in points and was also tied for third for assists and fourth for goals. In 2009-10, Ouellet skated for Fribourg-Gotteron of the Swiss Elite League, recording a goal and five points in 11 games.

A native of Rimouski, Quebec, Ouellet has played in 190 career NHL games with the Lightning, Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks. During that time he has amassed 52 goals, 27 power-play goals and 116 points. Ouellet played in 64 games with Tampa Bay during the 2007-08 season, registering 17 goals and 36 points, both the second-highest totals of his career. That season he led the Bolts in plus/minus rating with a plus-11 and was fourth in goals. Ouellet has played in five Stanley Cup Playoff games, all with Pittsburgh in 2007, notching two assists. Ouellet was originally drafted by the Penguins in the fourth round (124th overall) of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed right wing Brett Connolly to a standard three-year, entry-level contract today, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced.

Connolly, 6-foot-2, 181 pounds, spent last season with the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League, recording 46 goals, 27 assists and 73 points in 59 games played. He set WHL career-highs for goals and points while also ranking third among all WHL goal-scorers. His 15 power-play goals ranked 12th.

A native of Campbell River, British Colombia, Connolly has spent each of the past four seasons with Prince George of the WHL. Throughout his career he has amassed 86 goals and 152 points in 144 WHL games. He has also appeared in five career postseason games, registering two points.

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed free agent goaltender Mathieu Garon (gah-ROHN, MA-tyew) to a two-year contract today, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced.

Garon, 6-foot-1, 206 pounds, played in 36 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets last season, posting a 10-14-6 record with a 2.72 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. He also recorded three shutouts. Garon led the Blue Jackets in goals-against average and was tied for the lead in save-percentage and shutouts. His three shutouts were the second-highest of his career.

A native of Chandler, Quebec, Garon has appeared in 275 NHL games with the Blue Jackets, Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings and Montreal Canadiens. He has posted a 116-106-25 career record with a .904 save percentage and 2.82 goals against average. Garon has posted double-digit wins in each of the previous two seasons with a save percentage above .900 as well as a goals-against average below 3.00 in each of the previous three. He has played in two Stanley Cup Playoff games, both in relief roles.

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have re-signed center Adam Hall to a one-year, one-way contract today, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced.

"We are pleased to have Adam return to the Lightning for another season,” Yzerman said. “His outstanding work ethic and leadership were, and will continue to be, very important to us."

Hall, 6-foot-3, 213 pounds, played in all 82 games with the Lightning last season, recording seven goals and 18 points. He led the Lightning in face-off percentage with 55 percent and ranked fourth overall with 360 face-offs won. Hall also led the team with 152 hits and was third among forwards with 59 blocked shots. He was Tampa Bay’s nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy after battling his way back to the NHL in 2010-11. He was one of four Bolts to play in all 82 games. The 30-year-old veteran also played in all 18 Stanley Cup Playoff games with the Lightning as they made it to within one game of the Stanley Cup Final. He recorded a goal and five points during the postseason.

According to RDS, the Tampa Bay Lightning have re-signed pending unrestricted free agent defensemen Marc-Andre Bergeron to a two-year, $2M contract today.

No official confirmation from the Lightning organization has yet been issued, but GM Steve Yzerman signed Bergeron on January 4, 2011 following a lengthy rehabilitation of injury suffered at the end of the 2009-10 season. After a month-long conditioning assignment in the AHL, Bergeron was recalled to the Lightning for the final six weeks of the season and the post-season. In 23 regular season games, Bergeron scored 2 goals and added 6 assist before tallying 2 goals and 3 points in 14 playoff games.