The Vancouver Canucks announced on Friday afternoon that they re-signed forward
Ryan Kesler to a new 6-year contract extension worth $30 million for the duration of the deal. Kesler was set to become a restricted free agent on July 1st, but a long-term deal was on the table and it will bring his Canucks career through the 2015-'16 season.
Kesler's new contract is definitely a reward for a job well-done in 2010, as he has 21 goals and 45 assists in
71 games with the Canucks, ranking him 30th in pool scoring this year. Those are already career highs in assists and in points this season, still 5 goals away before tying his previous high from last season. In this year's Draft, that would have qualified for a 2nd round pick. In 2009, he finished ranked in 85th in pool scoring, which is a 5th round pick in the pool, so its quite the increase in production.
With this deal, the Canucks have a good portion of their core already signed on for the 2011 season. Already, the team has 15 players signed at an approximate cap hit of $46.7 million, which should leave the team with $10 million for the remaining 8 players left to add to their 23-man roster. Both Mason Raymond and Jannik Hansen will prove to be the most interesting RFAs this summer, but neither should be too bad against the salary cap next season.
There was some speculation suggesting that there wouldn't be a deal done until after the playoffs this Spring, but the Canucks come up big on this deal. His deal places him behind
Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin and
Roberto Luongo, in terms of value against the cap next season, but that's how much the Canucks admire Kesler's effort and production. It's a pretty good deal, when you think of where Kesler ranks and what his cap hit will be for the next few seasons.
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