The Canucks signed Salo to a four-year contract extension Thursday that will pay the 32-year-old Finn US$3.5 million a season. "He has great presence out there," assistant general manager Steve Tambellini said from Los Angeles prior to the Canucks' game against the Kings. "He's so confident in his play, whether it's the most important game of the season or the way he prepares himself for training camp.
-CBC
Very good signing by Dave Nonis; if he had been let go, Salo would have attracted much interest in the free-agent market by defenceman-hungry GM's.
The Finnish-born defenceman is a very good scoring defenceman and has been a leader of this Canucks team for a while now.
Dave Nonis and co. must be relieved that he's staying, if he had hit the free-agent market, Salo would've been a hotly anticipated commodity if last year's frantic defenceman signings mean anything this year.
"You want to win," said Salo, who sat out the game against the Kings with a groin injury. "I felt that team we have in Vancouver right now, and in the future, we have a really good chance of going far in the playoffs.
Salo has 13 goals and 21 assists with a great +19 rating and 6 gawe-winning goals, the triple of what he had in each of the past two seasons.
That last stat is also reassuring for the Canucks, if they expect to go far in the playoffs, they'll have Sami Salo's shot right behind them.
0 fanatics have replied:
Post a Comment