It was a quick process on Saturday night, from Pierre LeBrun hinting on Hockey Night In Canada's Hotstove program, to the details emerging at the beginning of the Kings game and then confirmation of the deal late in the 3rd period of the same game, Jack Johnson signed a 7-year contract extension with the Kings, reportedly worth $30.5 million. That gives the Kings one of their top defensemen for the seven seasons after this one for a cap hit of $4.357 million per season.
Johnson, a 3rd overall draft pick of the Hurricanes in 2005, has finally started to come around as the offensive defenseman he was scouted as during his junior days, starting with a 36-point season with the Kings in 2010 and so far this season, he is on pace to obliterate that career-best mark, as he already has 30 points (4 goals and 27 assists) in 41 games, ranking 6th among all defensemen in scoring this season.
The Kings have taken a responsible amount of time to build a team from the ground up, slowly picking up young prospects and grooming them for the NHL and keeping the salary cap in mind while preparing their team for battle. The team was in pretty good shape this season and remain to be that way with bodies getting healthy again and now their 2012 team now has 13 assumed regulars on their roster for an approximate annual cap hit of $39 million. The team will have some decisions to make when free agency rolls around, but they have plenty of flexibility to correct any issues they may find in the playoffs.
I'm a big fan of this deal, as a general hockey fan, as Johnson has really emerged as a top offensive player. In all honesty, I had him projected for about 45 points for the coming season and he currently is on pace for 62 points this year, likely why I didn't get him in the draft this year. He might be a popular guy in the pool draft next season, if he keeps this pace up.
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