Pominville Signs Five Year Deal
Thursday, September 18th, 2008 9:50 pm by Mike
Earlier today, Jason Pominville signed a five year contract extension worth $26.5 million with the Buffalo Sabres. That comes out to be $5.3 million per season, starting with the 2009-10 season. Pominville is already under contract for the upcoming season and will make $1.375 million. That means Pominville will be a Buffalo Sabre for the next six seasons.
We recently posted that Pominville had announced that he would not negotiate a contract extension during the regular season. That made today the last day that he would deal with the Sabres and I didn’t think that there was a chance that he would be signed until after the season. I was dead wrong, but I don’t mind in this case.
With Pominville’s extension, the Sabres have locked up the majority of the players that make up the core of the team. Vanek, Roy, Pominville, Hecht, and Miller are all now on long term contracts and will dictate the direction of the Sabres for the next several seasons. I think the Sabres have been making some good choices lately with these signings, solidifying the Sabres roster and increasing the odds of success in the future. These signings have also done a lot to quelch fan dissent towards Darcy Regier and management and should hopefully make signing free agents easier in the future.
At $5.3 million, Pominville’s contract seems fair. I feel like it was a good deal all around. Pominville might have been able to ask for more, but now he has the security of a long contract and the chance to make a big impact on the team. By offering this contract, I also believe the Sabres are offering him the chance to take an advanced role on the team and take on additional leadership responisbilities. I could even seeing Pominville named Captain next season.
Overall, I like the deal and I’m looking forward to watching Jason play for the next several seasons.