Six days after acquiring his rights from the Dallas Stars, the Arizona Coyotes have won over defenseman Alex Goligoski and signed him to an extension.
Alex Goligoski‘s AAV on his 5-year contract with ARI will be $5.475M.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 22, 2016
Alex Goligoski Signs With the Coyotes
The deal is almost a $900,000 raise from his previous contract he signed with the Stars in 2012. That deal paid him $4.6 million per year over the past four years.
Goligoski, 30, is coming off the second best season of his career. He scored five goals and 37 points for the Stars (’13-14: 6G, 42P). He saved his best for last in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, scoring four goals and seven points in 13 games. Involved in the 2011 James Neal and Matt Niskanen deal with Pittsburgh, he has spent the past five seasons with the Stars. His Dallas career totals 385 regular season games, as well as 19 more in the playoffs. Goligoski has scored seven goals and 21 points in 34 career playoff games.
Goligoski is known to be durable. He has played 80+ games four times in his career, including the last three seasons in a row. He’s been a pretty solid possession player. Goligoski has played for two high-octane offenses in Pittsburgh and Dallas, while averaging a 52% CF% over his career. He has a 53% CF during the last two years with the Stars. While he is not known as a goal scoring defenseman, Goligoski has posted five 30+ point seasons over his career.
Joining the Coyotes
Drafted originally by the Penguins in 2004 as a second rounder (61st overall), Goligoski played his college hockey at the University of Minnesota for three seasons totaling 98 points in 117 games. He comes into a rebuilding scenario in Arizona with some great pieces to play with on the back end. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Michael Stone, Connor Murphy, and Klas Dahlbeck are all between 23-26 and stand tall at 6″2″ and up. The forward core is building as well with recent graduations Max Domi and Anthony Duclair proving to be a dynamic duo. Thats merely scratching the surface of the Coyotes future potential. Prospects Dylan Strome, Nick Merkley, Christian Dvorak, Brendan Perlini and more are all on the way. Holding the 7th overall pick in this year’s draft, the team could even add another big name for Goligoski to get the puck to.
Main Photo:
