It appears that truculence will still have a spot on the Flyers' roster.
The club announced on Tuesday afternoon the signing of Zac Rinaldo to a two-year contract extension. Due to make $750,000 this season, the extension bumps his totals up to $850K beginning in 2015-16.
Rinaldo, 24, will be entering his fourth NHL season in
2014-15. He appeared in 67 games for the Flyers last season,
recording two goals and two assists along with 153 penalty minutes. His value goes much deeper than point totals, however. Rinaldo placed second on the team last year with 231 hits while playing an
average of just 7:41 per game.
A native of Ontario, Rinaldo joined
the Flyers for the 2011 playoffs, appearing in two
games, and made his regular season Flyers debut the following
season. He appeared in 66 games that year, posting two goals
and nine assists while ranking second in the NHL in penalty
minutes with 232.
“I’m surprised that we’d even started to talk about it so early, but I am thrilled,” Rinaldo said. “Philadelphia is where I started my NHL career and this is where I want to be so I am really happy. This definitely gives me a lot of confidence by the Flyers showing that they have confidence in me. I know they want to see me get better as a player, and this is the place to do it.”
After head coach Craig Berube said in a town hall meeting for season ticket holders that he's looking for Rinaldo to prove himself worthy of moving up the Flyers' depth chart, it was only a matter of time for the extension to be announced.
We'll have to wait until training camp opens in just over two weeks to see if Rinaldo underwent some bionic implants in certain body parts during the offseason which might shed light on what Chief sees in him.
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