Breaking: Lightning make Andrei Vasilevskiy one of the richest goalies in the NHL.

This is a massive, massive, contract. 

According to a breaking news report from Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider Elliotte Friedman, the Tampa Bay Lightning have signed their starting netminder to a gigantic new contract. The news of the signing was first reported by Dan Milstein, the agent for Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy, but when Milstein reported the deal he merely announced it as an 8 year contract term. Friedman however has provided financial details on the deal and it appears that this contract will come with a staggering average annual value of $9.5 million against the NHL's salary cap.

This instantly makes Andrei Vasilevskiy one of the richest goaltenders in the entire National Hockey League, with only Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens and Sergei Bobrovsky of the Florida Panthers current earning more on a per year basis than him. That is not all however, there are other aspects of this deal that could drastically alter the kind of impact this contract will have on the Lightning down the road. According to Friedman the contract will include a whopping $45 million in bonuses, which means that it is almost certainly designed in a way that will make a buyout nearly impossible for the team.

Although it probably does not look good to have your goaltender earning as much on an average annual basis as your star player, in this case Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, you would be hard pressed to argue that Vasilevskiy has not earned the money in this current climate. Veteran goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky just earning a gigantic contract from the Florida Panthers and with Vasilevskiy being younger,  and arguably better at this stage of his career than Bobrovskiy, that likely set the tone for Vasilevskiy's negotiations with the Lightning.

Stay tuned for more details.