Blues, Pietrangelo agree to seven-year deal
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo will end a brief holdout of training camp after accepting a seven-year contract offer from the team on Friday.
TSN.ca reported the pact to be worth a total of $45.5 million, making Pietrangelo the Blues' highest-paid player.
Pietrangelo, selected by St. Louis with the fourth overall pick of the 2008 NHL Draft, has spent the last three seasons as a mainstay on the club's blueline and been an integral part of the Blues' resurgence over the past two years. The 23-year-old is sixth among all league defenseman in points (118), ninth in assists (90) and 10th in goals since his first full campaign in 2010-11.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Ontario native became the youngest defenseman in team history to record back-to-back 40-point seasons when he did so from 2010-12. In the last of those two years, Pietrangelo joined Al MacInnis as the only St. Louis blueliners to post six game-winning goals and six power-play tallies in a single season.
"We're excited to have Alex in the fold for the next seven years as he will continue be a key component of our franchise," said Blues general manager Doug Armstrong. "He is an elite defenseman in this league and will be for years to come."
Pietrangelo, a restricted free agent, had missed the first three days of training camp as the Blues and his representatives attempted to hammer out a long-term contract.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In 47 games during the lockout-shortened 2013 regular season, Pietrangelo registered five goals and 19 assists before notching one goal and one helper in the Blues' loss in six games to Los Angeles in the Western Conference quarterfinals.