Jason Pominville Signs 5 Year Extension

 

Much like the Maple Leafs and Phil Kessel on Tuesday, the Wild announced via Twitter that the team has signed Jason Pominville to a five year extension just hours before the season opener against Los Angeles.

Breaking: Jason Pominville signs 5-year contract extension! Read all about it here on http://t.co/LuTvxrvDG0: http://t.co/xnFAbQti1W #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) October 3, 2013

Russo tweeted that the deal carries an AAV of $5.6M, making the deal worth $28M total.

Five-year, $28 million extension for Jason Pominville with #mnwild...($5.6 AAV)
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) October 3, 2013

We all remember that Pominville was brought over at the trade deadline last April, after spending his first eight and a half seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. He appeared in 10 games with the Wild before suffering a concussion, which kept him out of the lineup until Game 4 of the playoffs. In those 10 games, Pominville scored four goals and added five assists.

Pominville has been averaging 60 points a season in his time with Buffalo, and has eclipsed 70 points twice (80 in 2007-08, 73 in 2011-12). He was also team captain in his final season in Buffalo, and gives the Wild another leader presence in the locker room (we seem to be collecting former captains).

As a whole, this is a good deal for Minnesota. It locks Pominville into that top line with Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu for the next half decade. It gives the team a serious punch up front with three very elite players.

Salary wise, it would of been nice to see the team maybe get him to go down to $5.5M AAV or less in exchange for giving him a five year contract at the age of 30. But if the compromise between the sides was $5.6M, then who knows where they started from.

Pominville's deal will take him through the 2017-18 season, which is the same year Mikko Koivu's contract runs out as well.


Follow Giles on Twitter @gilesferrell