Malkin resigns at 9.5M per, 8 years

[killgod]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=425359

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Evgeni Malkin to a US$76-million, eight-year contract extension Thursday, locking up the star forward through the 2021-'22 season.

The deal begins with the 2014-'15 season and has an average annual value of $9.5 million, the team said in a release.

According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the Penguins and Malkin have been negotiating the deal in Pittsburgh since Saturday. The deal involves a no-movement clause as well as $10 million in signing bonuses.

The year-to-year variances on the deal are reportedly "fairly flat" according to Dreger, meaning that Malkin's yearly salary should be close to the annual average value of the contract. Malkin's agent, J.P. Barry worked out the deal over the course of the week with Penguins' general manager Ray Shero as well as Penguins owners Ronald Burkle and Mario Lemieux.

Malkin, 26, won the Art Ross Trophy as the NHL's leading scorer and Hart Trophy as league MVP last year after recording 109 points (50 goals, 59 assists) in 75 games. He had 33 points (9-24) in 31 games this past season and averaged over a point a game in the playoffs.

Malkin also won the Art Ross Trophy in 2009 and the Calder Trophy as top rookie in 2007. The four-time NHL all-star has 560 points in 458 career regular-season games.

The six-foot-three, 215-pound Russian helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2009. He also earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as post-season MVP.

Malkin was drafted by the Penguins with the second overall pick of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.

He has represented Russia many times on the international stage. The two-time Olympian was named tournament MVP of the 2012 world hockey championship and led his country to a gold medal.

[Ravin]

Malkin getting paid and basically making him a Penguin the rest of his career. His $8.7M cap hit still stands this upcoming season, and the $9.5M hits the following, in a year when the Penguins have 6 players signed as of right now. I kid you not, right now as it stands, only Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Beau Bennett, Paul Martin and Fleury are signed for the 2014-15 season that are currently on the roster. The Penguins will have $30M in cap space to resign everyone. It's going to be a hard off season next year for Shero, so I expect the extensions on players like Letang and Kunitz to get done during this next season.

Currently as it stands we have $7.8M to resign Kennedy, Dustin Jeffrey, Iginla, Morrow, Cooke, Dupuis and Adams on forward, and Murray and Eaton on defence. Pens will try hard with Iginla to keep him, and Dupuis may have earned himself out of the team. Kennedy probably gets resigned, but as for the rest, I have no idea where they will fall.

As for the following year, if we want change in the defence and to save cap space, that is where we will see it. Letang will get resigned, and maybe Orpik, but then I see the defence being Despres and all the prospects we have coming up to free up space. Going to be a new looking team these next two seasons.

[Villain]

Re-sign.

[wr50l]

I would have liked to see him in his prime on a different team, because I feel like he has a tendency to coast along too often when Crosby is on the ice. Obviously, the guy has a Hart and Art Ross from last year, plus a Conn Smythe and his name is on the Cup forever, but I don't consider him to be the best in the game because I don't ever know if he will be at his best or totally out of it.

When he's in the mood to dominate he's the best power forward in the league, which is the one trait which sets him apart from Crosby, Datsyuk, Stamkos and so on.