Kari Lehtonen signs new deal with Dallas Stars for Five-years -NHL Update
The Dallas Stars are keeping one of their top level goalies on the line-up as the only Texas based franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) announced the signing of goaltender, Kari Lehtonen, to a five-year contract.
Lehtonen’s five-year deal is believed to be worth a cool $29.5 million and will keep him secured on the Stars franchise till the 2017-2018 NHL regular season comes to an end.
One thing that the Stars really appreciate about Lehtonen is the fact that he has really given them an identity when it comes to the goaltending part of things in the league, for which the franchise cannot award him enough.
"Kari Lehtonen has worked extremely hard in his time with the Dallas Stars to establish himself as an elite goaltender in the NHL," general manager, Joe Nieuwendyk, said. "We believe that his best days as a goaltender are ahead, and that his work ethic and
leadership will help guide this team into a perennial Stanley Cup contender."
Despite Lehtonen still having a year to go on his contract, both the player and franchise wanted to stay interlocked as a lockout has come into play and the upcoming regular season is under serious threat of being sacrificed.
According to his new deal, the goalie will be making a cool $6 million and more each year, while that will come down to an exact $6 million following the 2014-2015 regular season and have him locked up till July of 2018.
Drafted as the second overall back in round-one of the 2002 NHL Entry Draft by the Atlanta Thrashers, the 28-year-old goalie has played in a total of four seasons with the Atlanta Thrashers and three in Dallas with the Stars.
In a total of 344 games played up until now, Lehtonen has 166 wins and 133 losses for an accumulated save percentage of .914 and 2.71 goals-against average.
Kari Lehtonen is without a doubt an asset for the Dallas Stars and as they look to make a major impact next season with players like Jaromir Jagr and Ray Whitney also on the team now, having him locked up for years to come was definitely important.
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