Dustin Byfuglien Signs 5 Year, $26 Million Contract Extension With Atlanta Thrashers

The Atlanta Thrashers are not in the most optimal ownership situation, so the fact that they were able and willing to fork over the kind of cash they did for defenseman Dustin Byfuglien says a lot, writes Laura Astorian at SB Nation Atlanta.

The Thrashers have historically had trouble keeping players in town, but it wasn’t necessarily because they were cheap, even if it’s the reputation that they have. They offered the house to Ilya Kovalchuk and he didn’t take it. They made a large offer to Marian Hossa, too, and that didn’t work.

The Thrashers locked up their big, point-producing defenseman on Tuesday, signing him to a five-year, $26 million contract extension. The news was broken by Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Consitution. It’s a salary cap hit of $5.2 million a year.

A Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks and now $26 million. It hasn’t been a bad few months for Mr. Byfuglien. He’s in his first full year as a defenseman, where he’s used his size and his scoring skill on the power play to make himself one of the top scorers on defense in the NHL. Byfuglien currently has 17 goals, which leads NHL defensemen, and 26 assists. His 43 points are behind only four other blue liners.