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Sunday, 19 February 2012 10:07

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

The Penguins have signed forward James Neal (right) to a six-year contract extension believed to be worth a total of worth a total of $30 million. Neal will have a salary cap hit of $5 million once the contract kicks in.

In the final year of a contract with a salary cap hit of $2.875 million, Neal, 24, is having a career year with 56 points (30 goals, 26 assists) in 58 games this season. He was selected to his first career-all-star game last month.

Acquired from the Stars along with defenseman Matt Niskanen at last season's trade deadline, Neal is in his second season with the Penguins. In 20 regular season games with the Penguins last season, Neal had six points (one goal, five assists). In seven postseason games, he had two points (one goal, one assist).

This new contract will run through the 2017-18 season.

EN Says: This is excellent news for Neal and the Penguins. They lock up a player they have long sought, a scoring winger. Neal has shown what he can do this season when teamed up with a legit No. 1 center in Evgeni Malkin. A 30-goal scorer who also is a strong defensive player at $5 million at season is pretty affordable.

But what says Neal's success isn't a fluke? What guarantee do the Penguins have that he'll continue this level of play throughout the life of the contract? This is Neal's first 30-goal season of his career. And he's hardly a proven playoff performer at the NHL level.

We hate to throw a buck of cold water on a mostly postive move, but the length of this committment to a player who has only had one all-star caliber season in an admittedly short career thus far does raise a few eyebrows.

(Photo: Claus Andersen/Getty Images)

Comments (3)

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written by mtlkta, February 19, 2012 - 09:35 AM

glad to see they got him locked up. wonder how this plays out with the cap situation for next year. they won't have a ton of cap room and they'll need to sign/re-sign some more players. Gotta wonder if that means someone of significance goes to give them more cap flexibility going into the offseason.

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written by gmuny2002, February 19, 2012 - 09:37 AM

I think it was Kevin Stevens who once said that a fireplug could score 20 on Lemieux's line. It could be the same for Geno! I already know it is for Crosby! Seriously, though, I think this is a really good move, Neal has been a very solid two-way player this year and, injuries aside should be very productive for the 'Guins during the length of this extension.

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written by tennpen, February 19, 2012 - 11:55 AM

Great move by RS. Neal will now be paid the same as Martin...just sayin. Hopefully he can score at least one more goal than Martin allows, haha

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