Thrashers Re-Up Peverley

The contract extensions just keep on coming this year, don't they? On Tuesday, the Thrashers announced that they have signed forward Rich Peverley to a new 2-year contract extension that is reportedly worth $2.6 million in total, for a cap hit of $1.3 million. This is a nice raise from his current deal, which he signed last summer that has a cap hit of $488,000.

That isn't to say he hasn't earned his raise, because his numbers do suggest that he has. In 2009, Peverley scored 15 goals and 29 assists in 66 games with Atlanta, ranking him 179th in pool scoring. That alone at his cap hit is a huge bargain. Already in the 2010 season, Peverley has four goals and three assists in the first five games with the Thrashers. If his numbers were to be anywhere relative to this, the Thrashers have walked away with a massive bargain.

The signing of Peverley is one less of the many things the Thrashers will have to do this Summer, when it comes to free agency. With the $1.3 million cap hit that he incurs, they will have a little extra playing room to work with when it comes down to it. The Thrashers only have 11 players signed on for the 2011 season at a cap hit of $24.8 million, well below what the future cap floor will be. On the flip side, the Thrashers will have to contend with UFAs like Ilya Kovalchuk, Slava Kozlov, Pavel Kubina, Colby Armstrong and Johan Hedberg... just to name a few.

Well, I think I've outlined what I thought of this deal already, from just about all sides. The numbers look really good for the Thrashers here, it'll just be on Peverley to keep on scoring and earn an even bigger deal in a couple years time.