Lightning sign prospect Benjamin Rautiainen to entry-level contract
The time could be now for fast-rising Lightning prospect Benjamin Rautiainen, whose stock exploded in the year since Tampa Bay selected him in the fourth round.
After Rautiainen dominated the top pro league in his native Finland, the Lightning have signed the 20-year-old to a three-year, entry-level contract.
Rautiainen just completed a season in the Finnish Liiga in which he led the league with 77 points, which included 25 goals. He won regular-season MVP honors selected by both the players and the media, and also helped his Tappara team to the Liiga championship, recording one goal and seven points in 18 playoff games.
"It's historical, really," Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois said after the Lightning's season. "If you look at all the records he's beaten, who he compares to in that league, they're all-time greats that ended up being NHL players."
Rautiainen will be attending Lightning training camp in September with the goal of making the opening-night roster. If he does not make the NHL roster out of camp, he will return to play for Tappara, which had Rautiainen signed for one more year, for the entire season, according to International Ice Hockey Federation rules. He would be eligible to come back to the Lightning to play for the NHL team or AHL Syracuse once Tappara's season is over.
According to PuckPedia, Rautiainen's three-year deal will carry an annual $1.007 million cap hit.
This season, Rautiainen became the first Liiga player to score 70 points in a season since Saku Koivu had 74 in 45 games three decades ago, so he has little more to prove in Finland.
Rautiainen was a consensus selection as Liiga's top player, winning both the Lasse Oksanen Award given to the league's top player as selected by media covering the league and the Golden Helmet, the league's MVP award as voted on by players.
Last June, the Lightning traded up in the fourth round to select Rautiainen with the 108th overall pick. Rautiainen, who had been passed on in the previous two drafts, was gaining more attention after his strong play in the 2025 world juniors. He score two goals and two assists, including an overtime power-play goal that sent Finland to the tournament final.
The Lightning have had recent success signing international free agents out of European pro leagues. Norwegian defenseman Emil Lilleberg was playing pro hockey in Sweden when the Lightning signed him in 2023. Canadian defenseman Charle-Edouard D'Astous was signed last year after playing professionally in Sweden and Finland.
In other draftee news, defenseman Jan Golicic, a Lightning fourth-round pick in the 2024 draft, has committed to play college hockey at Quinnipiac, which allows the Lightning to retain his rights.
A new rule lets junior hockey players play in college and remain under control of the team that drafted them beyond the June 1 signing deadline two years after they are selected.
Golicic, 19, just completed his third season in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, recording a career-best six goals and 44 points in 57 games with Gatineau and Blainville-Boisbriand.
Under the same rule, the Lightning have until Monday to sign forward Kaden Pitre, a sixth-round selection in 2024, or they will lose his rights and he will become draft eligible again. Pitre, 20, just finished his fourth season in the Ontario Hockey League, scoring 18 goals and 44 points in 49 games with Flint and North Bay.
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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 6:14 PM.