***Jonas Hiller Signed To Four Year Extension***
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Jan 30, 2010 12:07 PM PST
in **This Just In**
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Anaheim announced today that it has signed goaltender Jonas Hiller to a four year extension. Eric Stephens of The OC Register reports that the 18M contract will be paid out in equal increments at 4.5M per year.
The 27 year-old Hiller was set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season after his 2 yr/2.6M contract expired. Anaheim has yet to trade or buy out its former #1 goaltender, J.S. Giguere, who is due to make 7M on a 6M cap hit next year.
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That’s a fair concern considering Hiller relies a lot on reflexes an less on positioning. Still, I don’t think this deal would have happened if it wasn’t at least 4 years. At least hissalary is a littl mire manageable, an I haven’t read anything about a no-trade clause.
by Daniel AC on Jan 30, 2010 12:34 PM PST via mobile reply actions
If memory serves me, Jiggy signed a 4 year extension in 2007. And look where that got us. We’re still suffering the consequences.
But you are right, at least its a more serviceable contract. Still, I’ve always felt that you shouldn’t make a long term commitment to a goalie unless they are Brodeur/Luongo caliber. And I think we can all agree that Hiller is nowhere close to Brodeur’s league.
No one’s really in Brodeur’s league. And I do think that, athletically, Hiller is right there with Luongo, but the rest of his game really suffers without Allaire.
I don’t think the term or the salary are terrible on their own. The Ducks don’t have anyone in the cupboard, and they’d have to make a similar deal to go after Turco or Nabokov or whoever is floating around in the offseason. The ability to take a chance on someone else’s backup like Colorado did with Anderson is there, but I think players like Niemi will choose arbitration. My problem with the 4 years/4.5M is that we’re giving it to him in the middle of his first 46+ game season. As a college hockey guy, I’m really tired of hearing people talk about how NCAA players need to learn to deal with the long season. I mean, Ryan Miller only got a 3M/yr extension after playing multiple 60 game seasons in the AHL. Hiller’s never played 60 games at any level of organized hockey. I know that’s the danger of tangling with free agents, but Murray should’ve been able to talk these numbers down.
by Arthur from Anaheim Calling on Jan 30, 2010 1:19 PM PST up reply actions
That is fair
Hiller is still developing into an NHL goaltender and I think can get better. Part of his problems are that he is not used to an 82 game season. Also with the compressed NHL season due to the winter games, I think that is hindering his preformance as well. I just dont think his stamina is up to par yet. A four year contract gives him some growth time with the Ducks. At 2.6 its a little expensive to fair for where Hiller is at right now but is cheap for what he could be. I think both sides are getting a fair deal. Jonas now need to fill into the pads so to speak and become the goaltender that I think he can be. He has the talent.
Meant to type 4.5 instead of 2.6 above
by Newport Rebel on Jan 30, 2010 1:00 PM PST up reply actions
This signing is kind of scary. Don’t get me wrong hes an above average goalie, but might be a little much for Hiller’s caliber. This is pushing right up against that cap. How are the Ducks going to sign Bobby? If Giguere is still around. Does that mean Scotty is done? or is he going to take a pay cut if he comes back next year? Hard to trade Lupul too if he didn’t play at all this season. This is going to be an interesting trade deadline and we’ll see what Murray has in store for us yet again
by CUnitSoldier on Jan 30, 2010 6:26 PM PST up reply actions
By resigning Hiller I am sure something has been worked out regarding Jiggy. There is no way our GM would resign one goaltender without knowing what he would do with the other. So I think its a matter of time before Jiggy is moved. I hope he is moved before the winter games break so both players involved can get used to their new teams during the break As for Lupul its a matter of time before he is traded. I just don’t see us holding on to him for 4.2 a year. He won’t be good trade bait this year but I don’t think it will take that long when he gets healthy and shows GMs he can play. Rumors are that Scotty is coming back after this year. I am kind of mixed on that. I am a huge fan of #27 but at 6 mil a year its might not be worth it from a business point of view. If he takes a paycut then let him retire in Ducks black and orange.
by Newport Rebel on Jan 31, 2010 4:20 AM PST up reply actions
I don’t know if Murray has the kind of foresight to have a deal in place for Jiggy. He might actually be thinking buy out, and that might not be a team crippling move. Shane O’Brien is a UFA this summer and I bet he can be had for a little less than Wiz. Let Wiz walk. Re-sign Brookbank and give him a raise, maybe 725,000-1 million over 3 years, and he can be Sbisa’s training wheels. Then we can keep Scotty with Festerling or if something crazy happens Matt Clark or another rookie. The pairs would look something like this
Niedermayer-Festerling/rookie
Whitney-O’Brien
Brookbank-Sbisa
I like that Defense. Especially if Whitney grows up a little and explores all of his offensive tool kit.
Hey I have had my doubts with Murray as muich as the next guy but I don’t think he is stupid. Yeah I am typing this after the Jiggy move but I thought that Murray had to have thought somethings out before signing Hiller. You don’t quit your job before making sure that you have a better one lined up. That was my thinking about this deal. Murray can’t be that bad. As for your D pairings… that would be a D I would like to watch “grow up” some and they could do quite well.
by Newport Rebel on Jan 31, 2010 12:25 PM PST up reply actions
This signing could also mean alot of things.
If the Ducks wanted to shop Hiller and trade him, we wouldn’t have gotten much for him because any team that traded for him would only have him through the end of this season. Now Murray can shop him for a trade and an interested team would know that they have him for 4 years. The fact that the number is a little high might hinder this process, but he’s played well this year and it’s showing we have faith in him, that might just be enough to make another GM wanting to make a move for the Cup this year gamble.
It could also mean that Giggy has told Murray he will waive the no-trade clause and there just hasn’t been any press on it. With all the talk about him wanting to be reunited with Allaire, this shows Toronto that they’ll have him for 4 years, not 3 months, if they were interested in a trade.
It could mean that Scotty has asked for a trade.
It could mean Bobby said he’s not coming back.
It could mean anything…
Murray has been on a media blittz
this week about how he’s not trading Bobby and that Bobby is part of the Duck’s future. I think that this move signals there’s something pending for giggy. 4.5 isn’t an absurd amount for hiller, and any viable alternative would have cost around that much.
by PhantomPretender on Jan 30, 2010 10:22 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
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