Next March, Kimmo Timonen will turn 40 years of age.
Yet, the Philadelphia Flyers still have confidence that the veteran defenseman can still play in the National Hockey League, as evident by the one-year contract extension Timonen signed - a deal that was announced Friday.
“Biggest key is whether Kimmo thinks he can play and has enough in the tank,” said Flyers general manager Ron Hextall, as per Tim Panaccio of CSN Philadelphia.
“He is still a very effective player,” added the GM.
Timonen celebrated his 39th birthday only a few months ago. He finished fifth on the Flyers in ice time during the regular season, but was third on the team in that category during the first round of the playoffs against the New York Rangers.
He proved last season that he can still be a critical part of Philadelphia’s power play, with 19 assists and 20 points on the man advantage. Only Claude Giroux had more helpers on the power play than Timonen.