The Goose, normally loose as a Red Wing was loose as an restricted free agent this offseason. Today it was announced that he is staying put in Hockeytown.
Red Wings sign Gustav Nyquist to 4-year deal worth reported $19M
— Yahoo Sports NHL (@YahooSportsNHL) July 10, 2015
The 25-year old had his coming out party two seasons ago, scoring 28 goals and 48 points in 57 games. This season, Nyquist broke that career high in a full 82-game slate, scoring 27 goals and 54 points. The deal will pay the 2008 4th round draft pick $4.75 million per season until the 2018-19 season.
A big target on the Wings’ offseason list, Nyquist just four days ago filed for salary arbitration. The Wings have a history with getting players signed before an actual hearing, and Nyquist is the latest to join the list. The pay is reasonably higher than what he was previously making ($1.05 million AAV), and will be slightly higher than teammate Tomas Tatar‘s $2.75 million AAV, but the important thing is that both will be with the Red Wings for at least the next two years and likely beyond. (Tatar becomes RFA in two years)
Both Nyquist and the 24-year old Tatar(112 goals, 218 points combined in careers) are looked at as the future leaders of the core after Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg, and keeping both wearing the Winged Wheel will be huge for General Manager Ken Holland with the flood of young talent on the horizon.
Now, the wait is on for the Goose to be loose on the ice again.
stats courtesy of hockeydb
cap numbers courtesy of CapFriendly
quote tweet courtesy of @YahooSportsNHL
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