The new year started off with some good news for the Montreal Canadiens.
General Manager Pierre Gauthier announced on Sunday that the team had signed defenceman Josh Gorges to a six-year contract extension. The deal is reportedly worth $23.4 million (averaging out to a $3.9 million annual cap hit) with a no-trade clause in the first season and a limited no-trade for the remainder of the pact.
Gorges, 27, has developed into a key cog both on the Canadiens’ blue line and in the team’s locker room since coming over in a trade (along with a first round draft pick that became Max Pacioretty) from the San Jose Sharks back in February 2007. As of Sunday night, his 101 blocked shots led the entire NHL, a total that put him on pace for 212 for the full season. (He blocked 158 in 82 games in 2009-10.) Gorges also sat ninth among the league’s defencemen, averaging 3:48 of shorthanded ice time per game.
His leadership cast him among a group of several players to rotate the assistant captaincy in Andrei Markov’s absence. This year, it found a permanent interim home on his jersey, with Markov yet to return to action.
Gorges would have been an unrestricted free agent on July 1. He signed a one-year deal during the off-season, following an injury-shortened campaign that lasted just 36 games.
“This contract stems from discussions that began last summer but at the time, the Canadiens preferred to wait and see if Josh returned to form before committing to him,” Kevin Epp, Gorges’ agent, told La Presse.
His new pact is one he was hoping for just over five months ago.
“I wanted a multi-year deal,” Gorges said at the time, after re-upping for the year. “I’ve said it right from the start, I’ll say it today and I’ll say it to anyone who asks that I want to stay in Montreal as long as I can.
“It feels like home to me, I’ve been there long enough that I really enjoy my time there. I enjoy the team, I enjoy the organization and I enjoy the fans. That’s where I want to be, that's where I want to win a Stanley Cup. So I wanted to get as many years as I could.”
The mid-season announcement is a rarity for the Canadiens. Over the last number of years, management has repeatedly noted a preference to wait until season’s end before locking up its free agents, both restricted and unrestricted. The last Montreal signing to be announced in-season was former captain Saku Koivu back in February 2006.
While Gauthier has crossed one important name off his free-agent-to-be list, he has still has several others looming. The group includes several notable restricted free agents: goaltender Carey Price (arbitration eligible), defencemen P.K. Subban, Alexei Emelin, Raphael Diaz and emerging centre Lars Eller. He will also have to consider impending UFA Andrei Kostitsyn.
Capgeek.com shows the Canadiens as having $47.4 million committed to 13 players for next season.
Comments