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As you probably already know, the Penguins re-signed Conor Sheary yesterday. 3 years, $3.0 million per. [Pensburgh]
Also richer today, Nino Niederreiter thanks to a 5 year, $5.25 million cap hit. [Hockey Wilderness]
Niederreiter has to make the Sheary contract look even better, right? Both players are the same age, and while Nino has a much more extensive NHL resume (389 regular season games, three 20+ goal seasons to Sheary’s 105 games and one 20+ goal season) their stat-lines for last year were similar. 82 gp 25 goals and 57 points for Nino, 61gp, 23 goals and 53 points for Conor. This is a reason the Penguins only went 3 years on Sheary; a long-term contract buys out UFA years. As you can see with the Wild and Niederreiter , UFA years for a productive, young winger are not cheap.
The Red Wings didn’t buy out Jonathan Ericsson as some fans hoped, so the veteran defenseman will be back. [Winging it in Motown]
The Devils are getting younger under old friend Ray Shero. [All About the Jersey]
Alex Semin is now out of hockey and enrolling in school in Russia to study metallurgy. Hey, whatever makes you happy, but man what a talent that guy was when he wanted to be. [NOVA Caps Fan]
Finally, it’s the Pens summer superstar birthday week, kicking off as always with Evgeni Malkin! Happy 31st birthday!
He's full of talent, speed, and amazing skills. Happy birthday, @malkin71_! pic.twitter.com/ZqEmoUhd2Z
— KHL (@khl_eng) July 31, 2017
A young hockey player gave Evgeni Malkin a drawing during Geno's day with the Stanley Cup and my heart just melted. @malkin71_ @penguins pic.twitter.com/hfRk9AedlQ
— Chugging Schultz (@ChuggingSchultz) July 29, 2017