Ducks Lock Up Silfverberg

The Anaheim Ducks signed one of their key restricted free agents on Friday afternoon, giving Jakob Silfverberg a brand new 4-year deal, worth $15 million.

The cap-flexible Ducks get a pretty good deal out of the 24-year old Swedish winger, an annual cap hit of $3.75 million per year, giving him some term and decent money at the same time.

Last season, Silfverberg was good for 13 goals and 39 points in 81 games for the Ducks, playing a very important role on a team, which dominated the Western Conference, thanks to their two-way physical play, Silfverberg included.  In terms of rankings, the two-way winger was 134th among all forwards in scoring and he should prove to play a prominent role in this year's draft.

There is improvement on the horizon for this youngster, as the team around him has gotten a little bit faster and a little grittier, so he should be able to continue his maturation process with another great season.

He'll likely float along between the 2nd and 3rd lines of the team, possibly playing with guys like Ryan Kesler and/or Chris Stewart and there is plenty of natural talent in Silfverberg's game to compliment those two.  I'm currently projecting Silfverberg in the 45-to-50 point range this year.