The Anaheim Ducks have signed 22-year-old goaltender John Gibson to a three-year contract extension, the team announced on Monday.
The deal carries a $2.3 million AAV with the annual salary increasing from $1.5 million to $2.1 million and then $3.3 million in the final year, according to the Orange County Register’s Eric Stephens.
Gibson is entering the final year of his three-year, entry-level deal and got his first serious taste of regular season action last year, playing 23 games for the Ducks, through which he had a 13-8-0 record with a .914 save percentage.
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He did not see any ice time in the playoffs last spring with Frederik Andersen taking the driver’s seat throughout.
Gibson remains a highly regarded young goaltender who the Ducks believe will be the future franchise netminder. They made that clear with today’s extension, which will see him getting a higher AAV next season than Andersen is getting this season. Andersen is a restricted free agent at the end of the year.
With Andersen on contract and the team trading to acquire Anton Khudobin in June, the most likely scenario for Gibson is to start the season in the AHL getting as much ice time as possible. That makes this contract an investment in the team’s future and an attempt to start getting their tight cap situation sort out.
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