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Ottawa Senators re-sign Zack Smith four-year $13M contract
The Ottawa Senators have agreed to a four-year contract extension with forward Zack Smith, the team announced Monday.
The deal will pay Smith a total of $13 million over the next four season, which averages out to a $3.25 million salary cap hit. Smith is in the final season of a four-year, $7.5 million deal. ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun said Smith’s new contract with the team includes a limited no-trade clause.
“I’m very happy to get this done and I’m looking forward to the future here in Ottawa,” Smith said according to the Senators, “The direction the team is going in was one of the biggest selling points.”
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The 28-year-old Smith was picked by the Senators in the third-round of the 2008 draft and has played his entire career in Ottawa. Last season he hit a career-high of 25 goals, more than double his prior mark, and was a plus-16.
So far in 2016-17, Smith has scored 11 goals and added 11 assists in 43 games played. He also has a plus-1.71 adjusted 5-on-5 CF% Rel and last season, held a plus-5.11 adjusted 5-on-5 CF% Rel.
FanRag Sports pointed out that Smith’s production took off after a position change early in 2015-16.
Smith has had a career revitalization since being shifted to the wing position at the start of the 2015-2016 season. He netted a career-high 25 goals for the Senators while playing in 81 games, just the third time he reached that mark in his career.
This year, Smith has continued to score, having found the back of the net 11 times through his first 43 games. However, the 11 assists he has put up this year matches last season’s total with nearly half the campaign left to play. Barring an inability to pass for the remainder of the year, he will set a new career-high in assists, which was previously set at 12.
Smith hadn’t shown any trepidation on whether a new deal could be reached and over the weekend he spoke with Post Media about the issue. Smith was slated to be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
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“I’ve never felt at any point during the discussions that I wasn’t part of the future which was definitely re-assuring. Otherwise it would be nerve-wracking,” Smith said “We’ve shown my plan is to 100 percent be here and I love the way the team is going and my role with the team. This is where I want to be.”
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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