27-year-old defenseman Alex Biega earned a one-year pact over the summer and has done enough to get a two-year contract extension from the Vancouver Canucks, according to TVA’s Renaud Lavoie on Monday.
The contract is worth $1.5 million, paying him $700,000 in the 2016-17 season and $800,000 in the 2017-18 season, reports Lavoie. Adam Forsythe of Sportsnet News 1130 adds that the deal is one-way.
Biega provides a cheap depth defenseman for the cash-strapped Canucks, as they look to turn to the team’s youth movement without getting top lottery picks because they’ve got solid goaltending and the Sedins, who can buoy a team out of the basement by themselves.
This season, Biega has grabbed 25 games with the NHL club, posting four assists, 12 penalty minutes and 17:51 of ice time on average. He’s also posted a -0.1% CF%Rel, showing an ability to hang with the team through decent ice time in a depth role.
Those 25 games are already a career-high for the blue liner.
He’s additionally played 14 games with the Utica Comets of the AHL, where he has a goal and five assists.
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