As we draw closer and closer to Gary Bettman's welcome to the Entry Draft, let's quickly go over a signing that happened since the last fringe signing post. The Philadelphia Flyers extended the contract of defenseman Radko Gudas on Thursday night, giving him a 4-year deal, reportedly worth $13.4 million.
The 26-year old defender was headed towards restricted free agency and had arbitration rights for the Summer, but now he'll go right into unrestricted free agency, once this deal is done.
In the 2016 season, the Czech defender finished with 5 goals and 14 points in 76 games, but was mainly kept around for his physical presence. He was the 122nd ranked defender in scoring, which could be useful in a Waiver Draft, when 14 other defensemen got hurt.
Kicking off Friday afternoon was a contract extension for Dallas Stars defenseman Jordie Benn, who was scheduled to go to unrestricted free agency next week. The elder Benn brother signed a 3-year extension, reportedly worth $3.3 million to stay with the club.Benn picked up 3 goals and 12 points in 64 games in the 2016 season and did make a brief appearance in last season's pool and may be an outside candidate for a Waiver Draft pick-up here as well. The Stars' current depth at the position is fairly shallow, which would project more minutes on him, but it's still early in the off-season to say for sure.
Amidst all the trade rumours, the Tampa Bay Lightning were taking care of some housekeeping of their own, re-signing forward J.T. Brown to a new 2-year contract, saving him from restricted free agency with arbitration rights.
Brown moved into a full-time role with the Lightning last season, playing in 78 games and picking up 22 points, good enough for 244th among all forwards in scoring. The 25-year old is moving in the right direction, in terms of career trajectory. If he can somehow find his way into limited top six minutes in 2017, he would certainly be a good mid-season option in the Waiver Draft.
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