It’s a good day to be Josh Gorges.
The Montreal Canadiens locked up their stud defenseman to a six-year contract extension. ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun tweets that the deal is worth $3.9 million per season against the cap for a total of $23.4 million.
Gorges has emerged as perhaps Montreal’s best young defensive defenseman and as a guy who Canadiens fans have rallied around hoping the team would keep him around. Consider that wish granted.
The price tag for a guy known more for stopping opponents than contributing offensively seems to be a bit high and the years could be daunting given Gorges’ injury struggles. It’s a gutsy (or desperate) move by GM Pierre Gauthier, however, after he gave Andrei Markov a new contract in the offseason while his knee turned to Jell-O.