The Dallas Stars have put another of their young forwards on contract for the foreseeable future, signing Cody Eakin to a four-year contract extension, the team announced on Friday.
The deal will pay Eakin an AAV of $3.85, according to The Dallas Morning News’ Mike Heika.
Eakin’s current contract, paying him $1.9 million, will expire at the end of the season, making him a restricted free agent, but the team has locked him up, buying into his UFA years with Friday’s signing.
#Stars sign center @CodyEakin50 to a four-year contract extension. READ: http://t.co/O4iX5yQ4Bh pic.twitter.com/0T0Lpw44d7
— Dallas Stars at NHL All-Star (@DallasStars) August 28, 2015
The 24-year-old forward put up career-high totals in goals and assists last season, hitting 19 goals and 21 assists in 78 games. He was also effective in Dallas’ postseason during the 2013-14 season, scoring two goals and three assists in six games before the Stars were ousted by the Anaheim Ducks.
In the announcement, general manager Jim Nill described Eakin as a “well-rounded player” who “has the versatility to play in a number of roles. He has the ability to shutdown opponent’s top players, win faceoffs and kill penalties, all while producing offensively.”
That assessment is backed up by Eakin’s usage. According to War on Ice, he averaged 1.3 minutes of power play time and two minutes of penalty kill time per game, which was the second most among team forwards.
He was effective as well. Despite taking the third most defensive zone starts (relative to teammates) among Stars forwards, with a -9.2% ZSO%Rel, he posted a 50.6% score-adjusted CF%, good for a -2.7% relative mark.
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Advanced stats via War On Ice.
