Jan 14, 2020
Capitals extend C Backstrom on five-year deal
The Washington Capitals signed centre Nicklas Backstrom to a five-year, $46 million contract extension on Thursday. The deal will carry an average annual value of $9.2 million for Backstrom, who will turn 33 later this year. Backstrom, 32, has nine goals and 35 points in 39 games this season.
TSN.ca Staff
The Washington Capitals signed centre Nicklas Backstrom to a five-year, $46 million contract extension on Thursday.
The deal will carry an average annual value of $9.2 million for Backstrom, who will turn 33 later this year. As TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun notes, Backstrom negotiated the deal by himself, acting without an agent.
LeBrun reports the contract carries the following breakdown: $6 million signing bonus and $6 million salary in 2020-21, $5 million signing bonus and $5 million salary in 2021-22, $3 million signing bonus and $3 million salary in 2022-23, $5 million signing bonus and $5 million salary in 2023-24 and $6 million signing bonus and a $2 million salary in 2024-25. In total, he will be paid $25 million in signing bonuses.
The deal also includes a full no-move clause in each of the first three years and a 15-team no-trade clause in the final two years.
Backstrom has nine goals and 35 points in 39 games this season, his 13th with the Capitals. He was previously scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in July as he was playing out the final season of a 10-year, $67 million contract signed with the Capitals in 2010.
Selected fourth overall by the Capitals in the 2006 NHL Draft, Backstrom has 240 goals and 908 points in 934 career games. He is the franchise's all-time leader in assists in and, along with Alex Ovechkin, is one of two players to record more than 900 points with the team.
The 32-year-old has 36 goals and 106 points in 123 career playoff games and contributed five goals and 23 points in 20 games as the Capitals won the Stanley Cup in 2018.
On the international stage, Backstrom won a silver medal with Sweden at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and is a two-time gold medallist at the World Hockey Championship.
With Backstrom signed, Washington has just two pending unrestricted free agents on their roster in Radko Gudas and goaltender Braden Holtby. The Capitals, who also have three pending restricted free agents on their roster, have $10.39 million in cap space this summer with 16 players under contract, per CapFriendly.