Blackhawks agree to 8-year contract extension with Brent Seabrook
The Chicago Blackhawks didn’t want to let Brent Seabrook’s contract situation fester into the regular season.
After a summer that saw the Hawks part with key components, the team locked up Seabrook for a lot of years.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the team re-signed the blueliner for eight seasons at approximately $6.85 million per-year. The contract is set to start in 2016-17.
As Friedman notes in his tweet, “Good for him, he earned it.”
Said The Committed Indian as far as Seabrook's comparables with the deal:
In a market where Dustin Byfuglien very well might command $7 or even $8 million per year as a free agent, getting Seabrook under $7.0 is close to a bargain. At least until he’s 34 or 35.
Seabrook is entering the final season of five-year contract worth $5.8 million per-year. He was recently named the team’s alternate captain, replacing Patrick Sharp, who was traded in the offseason to the Dallas Stars. Seabrook has been a part of all three of Chicago's Stanley Cup teams since 2010.
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Via the Chicago Daily Herald:
Said team captain Jonathan Toews: "Since I've been a Blackhawk, he's been one of those guys that I've looked up to and learned from, on and off the ice. Regardless of what's going on with his own game, he's always bringing positive energy -- everything we need to hear and feel in the locker room (and) on the bench. … Great for a guy like that to get recognized."
The 30-year-old Seabrook is coming off a season where he had 31 points, his lowest full-season total since 2009-10. But his contributions go further than just his on-ice numbers.
Said the Chicago Sun-Times during the 2015 Stanley Cup Final:
Jonathan Toews is the Hawks captain. But Seabrook is the Hawks’ beating heart — the vocal leader, the wily veteran, the tension-breaker, the steadying hand. No, this isn’t Disney, but when someone does need to step up during an intermission when the Hawks are trailing in a big game, it’s usually Seabrook. When someone needs to lighten the mood in pressure-packed situations, it’s usually Seabrook.
Seabrook also scores big goals or finds himself on the ice during important playoff overtime situations.
He scored the OT game-winner against the Detroit Red Wings in Game 7 of Chicago’s 2013 second-round postseason triumph. He scored Chicago’s Game 3 triple-OT game-winner against the Nashville Predators in the first-round of last year’s playoffs. He had an assist on Marcus Kruger’s Game 2 triple-OT winning goal over the Anaheim Ducks in the 2015 Western Conference Final.
With Seabrook’s reported contract extension, and not including PTOs, the Blackhawks have just four players not under contract for the 2016-17 season according to General Fanager – two of which (Andrew Shaw and Kruger) who are restricted free agents.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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