The Montreal Canadiens and Norris Trophy winning defenseman P.K. Subban agreed to an eight-year contract with an AAV of $9M according to Bob McKenzie.
Subban's eight year deal with MTL has an AAV of $9M. #TSN
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) August 2, 2014
Arbitration between the Canadiens and Subban had Montreal coming in with a $5.25M offer and Subban’s agent Don Meehan entering with an $8.5M offer, each for one season. Tensions ran high yesterday as the club and Subban’s agent delayed arbitration to try and get a deal done.
Drafted in the 2nd round, 43rd overall of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, the largest knock against the defenseman was that there was no defensive side to his game. “There is no D in P.K.,” as they so eloquently put it. Suggestions went as far as “Convert him to a forward.” Four seasons later, Subban is one of the top defenseman in the league and the #1 defenseman on the Montreal Canadiens.
Subban, 25, completed the final year of his two-year bridge contract by helping the Montreal Canadiens earn an Eastern Conference final berth, their first since 2010. The season prior, Subban won the Norris Trophy as the National Hockey League’s best defenseman. When the bridge contract was inked, it fell under heavy criticism and after two fantastic years, the criticism has only doubled.
Subban has played all four seasons in the NHL with the Montreal Canadiens, amassing 167 points (42 goals, 123 assists) in 284 career games. He emerged onto the scene during the 2009-10 playoffs when he scored 1 goal and added 7 assists in 14 games. Last season, Subban finished 6th among all defensemen in points with 53, just two shy of Tampa Bay Lightning’s Victor Hedman, despite being 17th among defensemen in Time On Ice calculations. Subban also was a member of the 2014 Sochi Gold medal winning team.
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