Yet another high profile contract dispute has been settled as NHL training camps get underway. The St. Louis Blues have re-signed restricted free agent defenceman Alex Pietrangelo to a seven-year; $45.5 million dollar contract. The contract carries an average annual value or cap hit of $6.5 million per season.
Pietrangelo is considered to be among the best defencemen in the league at just 23 years age. His performance during the past couple of seasons earned him a spot at the Canadian Olympic camp; most think he will be on the roster in Sochi.
With Pietrangelo signed the Blues can now focus solely on preparing for a season in which they could make a legitimate bid for their first Stanley Cup. The young team will look to take lessons learned in last year’s playoffs and apply them in 2013-14.
Pietrangelo joins Nazem Kadri and Adam Henrique as high profile RFAs that have signed after long contract disputes. Derek Stepan of the New York Rangers, Jared Cowen of the Ottawa Senators, and Cody Franson of the Toronto Maple Leafs have all yet to come to terms with their clubs on new deals and are holding out of training camps.
In 224 career NHL games Pietrangelo has amassed 29 goals and 92 assists for 121 points. His best season came in 2011-12 when he scored 12 goals and added 39 assists for 51 points in 81 games.
Pietrangelo has played parts of 5 seasons (3 full seasons) with the Blues since he was their first round draft pick, 3rd overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
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