Zibanejad Re-signed
It's another 2 year contract for a Senators RFA
The Senators announced the signing of Mika Zibanejad this morning, bright and early. It's a two-year contract with a cap hit of $2.625M, with the salary split at $2M and $3.25M respectively. At that term and value, it's obviously a bridge contract.
Zibanejad had his first full season in the NHL last year, and managed to post 20 goals and 26 assists in it. Not a lock for the second line centre role going into the season, he managed to take a solid hold of it as the season wore on. Through the mid-point of the season it almost felt as if he was almost in a 1B position with linemates Bobby Ryan and Mike Hoffman at times while the Turris line was struggling.
The cap hit is fantastic value for the team, though I expect many fans might have been hoping for a bit more term despite recent comments from Bryan Murray regarding long term contracts for the RFAs. Why? Just check out his highlight reel from NHL.com:
You can read the official press release in English here and en Français ici.