charlio lemieux
2-07-06, 6:19 PM
4:48 PM EST, 02/07/2006
Sharks give Cheechoo a five-year deal, Nabokov gets four-year deal
SAN JOSE, Calif. (CP) - The San Jose Sharks locked up two of their key players Tuesday, signing right-winger Jonathan Cheechoo to a $15-million-US, five-year contract extension and goalie Evgeni Nabokov to a $21.5-million four-year deal.
Cheechoo, who was slated to become a restricted free agent after the season, has 32 goals and 21 assists this season, taking off after the Sharks acquired centre Joe Thornton in a trade with Boston. The 25-year-old from Moose Factory, Ont., has played in 200 NHL games, scoring 69 goals with 47 assists.
He'll make $2.5 million in each of the next two seasons, $3 million in 2008-09 and $3.5 million in the final two years of the deal.
Nabokov, who could have become an unrestricted free agent after the season, will make $5 million in each of the next two years, $5.5 million in 2008-09 and $6 million in 2009-10.
The 30-year-old from Kamengorsk, Kazakhstan holds most franchise goaltending records, including games played (296), minutes (16,855), wins (135) and shutouts (27) and single-season shutouts (9).
This season he's got a 14-15-6 record, with a 2.95 goals-against average and .892 save percentage. Russia will be counting on him at the Turin Olympics.
He joins Marty Turco and Martin Brodeur as the latest star goalies to forgo free agency and re-sign with their clubs.
Turco signed a $22.8-million, four-year deal Jan. 5 with Dallas, an average of $5.7 million per season. Brodeur last Friday signed a $31.2-million, six-year extension, which pays an average $5.2 million a season.
The NHL's highest-paid goalie is Nikolai Khabibulin, who signed a $27 million, four-year deal with Chicago last summer, an average of $6.75 million a season.
Veteran Olaf Kolzig, also due to be an untrestricted free agent, is also in contract talks with the Washington Capitals and may soon come to agreement.
Cheechoo's contract I like, but I would have only given Nabby a 2 year deal when Schaefer seems so close to grabbing the reins.
This could be the signal for moving Toskala.
Sharks give Cheechoo a five-year deal, Nabokov gets four-year deal
SAN JOSE, Calif. (CP) - The San Jose Sharks locked up two of their key players Tuesday, signing right-winger Jonathan Cheechoo to a $15-million-US, five-year contract extension and goalie Evgeni Nabokov to a $21.5-million four-year deal.
Cheechoo, who was slated to become a restricted free agent after the season, has 32 goals and 21 assists this season, taking off after the Sharks acquired centre Joe Thornton in a trade with Boston. The 25-year-old from Moose Factory, Ont., has played in 200 NHL games, scoring 69 goals with 47 assists.
He'll make $2.5 million in each of the next two seasons, $3 million in 2008-09 and $3.5 million in the final two years of the deal.
Nabokov, who could have become an unrestricted free agent after the season, will make $5 million in each of the next two years, $5.5 million in 2008-09 and $6 million in 2009-10.
The 30-year-old from Kamengorsk, Kazakhstan holds most franchise goaltending records, including games played (296), minutes (16,855), wins (135) and shutouts (27) and single-season shutouts (9).
This season he's got a 14-15-6 record, with a 2.95 goals-against average and .892 save percentage. Russia will be counting on him at the Turin Olympics.
He joins Marty Turco and Martin Brodeur as the latest star goalies to forgo free agency and re-sign with their clubs.
Turco signed a $22.8-million, four-year deal Jan. 5 with Dallas, an average of $5.7 million per season. Brodeur last Friday signed a $31.2-million, six-year extension, which pays an average $5.2 million a season.
The NHL's highest-paid goalie is Nikolai Khabibulin, who signed a $27 million, four-year deal with Chicago last summer, an average of $6.75 million a season.
Veteran Olaf Kolzig, also due to be an untrestricted free agent, is also in contract talks with the Washington Capitals and may soon come to agreement.
Cheechoo's contract I like, but I would have only given Nabby a 2 year deal when Schaefer seems so close to grabbing the reins.
This could be the signal for moving Toskala.