After scoring a league best 14 goals during the playoffs, the Los Angeles Kings rewarded Marian Gaborik with a seven-year contract.
The Los Angeles Kings must have really liked what they saw from Marian Gaborik during the Stanley Cup Playoffs because they're going to be keeping him around for a long time.
The Kings announced on Wednesday that they have agreed to terms with Gaborik on a seven-year contract that will keep him with the team until he is 39 years old. According to TSN's Bob McKenzie, the deal carries an average annual value of $4.9 million, bringing it to a total of $34.3 million.
Gaborik joined the Kings in a trade deadline deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets and immediately provided a spark to their offense, similar to the one they received when Jeff Carter joined the team during their 2012 Stanley Cup season. Injuries limited him to just 41 games during the season and 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists). He scored five goals in his 19 games with the Kings.
Once the playoffs started, however, he seemed to form an instant chemistry with Anze Kopitar and was an unstoppable force offensively, leading the league with 14 goals in 26 playoff games as the Kings won their second Stanley Cup in three years.
Carter was the only player in the playoffs to score at least 10 goals.
It was no secret that the Kings wanted to keep Gaborik, but the seven-year deal seemed to catch everybody by surprise. The cap hit is actually a pretty good deal for the Kings in the short-term, but a seven-year contract for a 32-year-old winger with a lengthy injury history is a pretty bold -- and risky -- move.