Canadiens sign Tomas Plekanec to 2-year extension

The two-year contract extension for forward Tomas Plekanec with the Montreal Canadiens, announced Friday, seems as though it’s all about compromise. He has been Montreal’s #1 centre for many years now and is a staple on the power play and penalty kill. He has scored at least 20 goals in seven of the past eight National Hockey League seasons – not counting the 14 goals he scored in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season.

Plekanec, who turns 33 on October. 31, has four goals and a plus-7 rating in five games this season. They drafted him in the third round of the 2001 draft, he made his National Hockey League debut three years later and has been a key contributor for the better part of a decade with 503 points in 766 career games.

There is no type of no-trade protection in the new deal, which expires at the same time as Price’s. With no cheaper years to tack on at the back of the contract, the cap hit is going to be higher. He’s now signed through the 2017-18 season.

The 32-year-old center was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2015-16 season and was thought to be looking for a long term deal in excess of his current $5 Million salary.