TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning signed forward Tyler Motte to a one-year contract worth $800,000, vice president and general manager Julien BriseBois announced today.
The 28-year-old Motte played 62 games last season between Ottawa and the New York Rangers, scoring eight goals and recording career highs for assists (11) and scoring (19 pts.). He started the season with Ottawa and played 38 games, posting three goals and six assists and led all Senators forwards for blocked shots per 60 minutes (5.01) before being traded to the Rangers on February 19 for forward Julien Gauthier and a conditional seventh-round selection in the 2023 NHL Draft. The 5-foot-10, 192-pound center skated in 24 regular season games with the Rangers and tallied five goals and five assists. Motte played in all seven of the Rangers’ first-round playoff games against the New Jersey Devils and posted 10 shots and 12 penalty minutes.
Motte became an unrestricted free agent this summer after signing a one-year contract with Ottawa on September 14, 2022.
The St. Clair, Mich. native has skated in 331 career regular season NHL games over seven seasons between Ottawa, the NY Rangers, Vancouver, Columbus and Chicago, recording 43 goals and 81 points. Motte has played in the postseason three of the last four seasons and has posted totals of six goals and seven points in 39 career playoff games with the Canucks (2020) and the Rangers (2022, 2023).
Motte was originally selected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the fourth round, 121st overall, in the 2013 NHL Draft.
