Around The NHL: Lindstrom And Pacioretty Sign New Contracts
Added on Jun 20, 2011 by J Merrill in
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Lindstrom To Play One More Year
Many, including Nikolas Lindstrom thought this past season would be his last, and that he would end his illustrious 19 season NHL run. It was announced today that the 6 time Norris Trophy winner would in fact be coming back to the Red Wings for a reported 6.2 million dollar 1 year contract.
Lindstrom’s numbers speak for themselves, as he is at the top of almost every career list in franchis history for Detroit. He is fourth all-time in games played (1,494), and likely will pass Steve Yzerman (1,514) and Alex Delvecchio (1,549) in that department next season. Lidstrom also is third all-time among Red Wings players in assists (855); fourth in points (1,108); and ninth in goals (253), which is 12 behind John Ogrodnick. He leads all active NHL players with a plus-429 rating.
Lindstrom said this wasn’t a decision he took lightly, and he made sure to focus on his physical condition as well as his families wishes. He said “The reason for why it took it so long is I wanted to make sure I found the motivation and I was ready to commit to the workouts over the summer to be ready for next season. When Ken and I met after the playoffs, Kenny told me, ‘You can take as long as you want up until July 1 at least to make your decision.’ He concluded “I’ve been talking to my family and I started working out a few weeks ago to make sure I still had the motivation and still had the commitment to go through everything to get ready for next season. I’m very happy to be back for my 20th season for the Wings.”
Pacioretty Signs New Deal With Habs
On March 8, 2011 we saw Zdeno Chara checked Max Pacioretty head first into a strachion near the bench and was carted off the ice on a stretcher. The news got even more bleak when it was released that he was diagnosed with a severe concussion and a fracture of the fourth cervical vertebrae. After he was released from the hospital the good news came out that he would make a full recovery,, and his career wasn’t over.
The only problem was that Pacioretty was about to become a free agent, and is obviously an injury risk. That all went away today when the Montreal Canadiens re-signed him for a reported 3.25 million. Candiens General Manager Pierre Gauthier announced the signing today, and said of Max “one of the most promising young players in our organization.” He continued by heralding the skill set of Pacioreety, “A power forward with skills, Max showed that he can help our team and make a name for himself in the NHL. We are confident that he will have fully recovered from the injury that kept him out of the lineup for the last month of the regular season and the playoffs.”
Pacioretty didn’t comment himself, but he did post a message on his twitter account. He said “Happy to announce I just signed a two-year deal with the Habs. I’m eally looking forward to getting this season started now.” Pacioretty had 14 goals and 10 assists in 37 games in 2010-11.
