What once was a rumor circulating last night, has become a reality. The Philadelphia Flyers announced that they agreed to extend the contract of their most reliable defenseman for next season.
“We are pleased to announce that we have signed Kimmo Timonen to a
one-year contract extension,” Flyers GM Paul Holmgren said. “Kimmo’s presence on the
ice for us and in our locker room is invaluable. We look forward to him
continuing his all-around play for us.”
No financial terms were disclosed, but multiple previous reports stated it is a $6 million deal. According to the Daily News, Timonen also retains his no-movement clause in the contract.
Currently in his 14th NHL campaign and sixth with the Orange and Black, the 37-year-old native of Finland has posted 211 points on 28 goals and 183 assists, and has gathered a plus-38 rating along with 244 penalty minutes over 407 games.
"I talked to Kimmo during the Summer, I talked to him during the lockout
to see how he felt. This was an ongoing thing, and it came to a
(finishing) point this morning," Holmgren added. "We're going through a
systematic change in the way we play, but Kimmo plays in all situations
for us, he logs a lot of minutes, he's just a key guy for us."
Timonen has endured a bit of bad luck in the early going, partly responsible for a broken foot sustained by former Nashville Predators teammate Scott Hartnell back in late January.
Coming from offseason back surgery, he has recorded one goal and five points in 10 games thus far in the truncated 2013 schedule.
Timonen offered his perspective shortly after a 3-2 shootout loss to the Florida Panthers, saying, "I talked with Paul before the season started and he wanted to know
where I'm at with playing one more year, and I said well coming off the
lockout, coming out from back surgery, give me about 10 games. I want to
see how I feel. I want
to still feel like I can play [at a] top level and a couple days ago I
talked to [Paul Holmgren], I said I feel pretty good and it was pretty
easy after. Ninety-nine percent sure that's my last."
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