Colorado Avalanche, David Jones sign 4-year, $16 million contract -NHL Update
It looks like David Jones has finally managed to prove his worth to the Colorado Avalanche as he was awarded his first long-term contract in career history by signing on to a four-year, $16 million deal on Thursday, June 7, 2012.
Having played five straight seasons with Colorado Avalanche up until now after he was drafted as the 288th overall pick back in the 2003 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft, Jones has always wanted to settle here, not only for himself but for his family as well.
Living in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, because of not having the security of staying in one place, Jones is now content at the fact that he will be in one place for at least the upcoming four seasons.
"It's just great to get a deal done this early in the summer," said Jones. "The most important thing for my family was to have some security and know I'm going to be in one place."
The 27-year-old has definitely gotten a major boost in annual salary compared to his previous one-year contract which was set to expire this July 1st. It was a one season, $2.5 million deal that would make him an unrestricted free agent and having to test the market was a tormenting task that Jones certainly did not want to go through.
With a number of new players like Gabriel Landeskog on the line-up, Jones believes that his team is getting better and better as days pass. The past two seasons have been great for the forward as well as he put up 45 points (27 goals, 18 assists) and 37 points (20 goals, 17 assists) in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 respectively.
"We've made small steps the last few seasons," Jones said. "We have a lot of positives. That being said, we need to be in the playoffs and make a run at it. We can't be satisfied with moving up a couple of spots. Everyone really feels we have the personnel and team to do it. It's time to do it now."
Jones is ready to contribute even more to the team, given more ice time, he believes that leading Colorado to the playoffs next season should not be a concern at all.
It will be interesting to see how this motivational deal helps him during the 2012-2013 regular season.
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