It's official. The Devils have announced that they have re-signed defenseman Johnny Oduya, preventing him from becoming an unrestricted free agent at noon on Wednesday.
It is a three-year contract for a total of $10.5 million. Oduya will make $3 million in 2009-10, $3.5 million in 2010-11 and $4 million in 2011-12. That's an average -- and annual cap hit -- of $3.5 million.
Oduya earned $600,000 last season.
“We are delighted to have Johnny Oduya stay with the organization,” Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello said in a statement. “He has developed into one of the more talented young defensemen in the National Hockey League." Oduya, 27, posted career highs of seven goals, 22 assists and 29 points with 30 penalty minutes and played in all 82 regular-season games in 2008-09. "His objective before the negoiations started was to stay in New Jersey," Oduya's agent Don Meehan said. "That was his preference and we conveyed that to Lou and we were able to reach an agreement that makes both sides happy. We felt that we were able to reach an agreement that was reflective of the current market and, on the basis of that, he decided to finalize with New Jersey."
Great signing. I hope Oduya can finally tap his full potential this year.
Posted by: frankied | June 30, 2009 at 12:47 PM
Woo hoo
Posted by: Tom | June 30, 2009 at 12:47 PM
Good signing. This means that (assuming Greene comes back) we will have 6 dmen under contract. Who fills out that 7th (and possibly 8th) slot? Personally, I would rather Lou and the next coach (cough...Lemaire...cough)give the spot to either Eckford or Corrente, and save money from spending on a Free agent Dman and put it towards offense (and by that, i don't mean giving more money to Gionta). I do think its time to start bringing up some of our prospects. Out of Corrente, Halischuk, Bergfors, and maybe Eckford, hopefully 1 of them should be ready to make the jump.
Posted by: Eric | June 30, 2009 at 12:52 PM
i wonder how many years...
Posted by: dubnoxious | June 30, 2009 at 12:53 PM
Good signing at a decent price. Anything above that number would have been to high for him.
I hope he shows some toughness this year. Maybe drop the gloves a few times and standup for yourself and your teammates. Im tired of seeing this team get pushed around
Posted by: Mike | June 30, 2009 at 12:55 PM
This seriously just made my day
Posted by: Pete | June 30, 2009 at 12:59 PM
Excellent signing at a good price. He used to drive me nuts, but he has really figured out the North American game this past year. I hope it was long term because he is only going to get better.
Posted by: Brodie30 | June 30, 2009 at 12:59 PM
just another soft SWEDE signed/drafted by devilz
Posted by: Flyers Nation | June 30, 2009 at 01:01 PM
HOORAY! good news to start the FA feeding frenzy, now if we can bring in Komisarek or Cammalleri it would be a GREAT off season!
Posted by: Pearl Jammed | June 30, 2009 at 01:03 PM
What worries me though is that Lou has already said he is extending Greene. Does that give him a spot on our blueline or will he continue to be a spare? If Lou locks up Oduya at this price (which is good) and plans to re-sign Greene (under what intentions?), it sort of makes me think he won't be going after anyone (better) in free agency.
Posted by: mpf | June 30, 2009 at 01:03 PM
You have got to be kidding me. Two seasons ago the chant at the rock was "Trade Oduya". Now I will admit he improved dramatically the end of the year and was decent last year but certainly not worth 3.5 million dollars a year in my opinion. I would rather of given him 1.2 million a year or something and sign a GOOD top of the line defense man. This is a waste of money which will cause us to do less tomorrow. Again, I am not hating on Oduya, I think he will be OK .. But I think we paid way too much.
Posted by: jdr30 | June 30, 2009 at 01:06 PM
mpf, im sure youre right. i really dont see Lou bringing in another D man though most people seem to see that its a need. Then again, would you rather have a center or a D? it may come down to that, and personally i'd rather us sign a new center. realistically though, knowing lou, we probably wont get either.
Posted by: dubnoxious | June 30, 2009 at 01:07 PM
Rewind the clocks 2 years and we all were screaming for the benching of Oduya and Lou stuck with him. We have to give Lou a ton of credit this guy is a hockey genius.
Posted by: Umero | June 30, 2009 at 01:09 PM
Greene doesn't make a ton of money. There's really no harm in qualifying him and protecting an asset.
Assuming that Greene accepts his qualifying offer or re-signs in some way, they still have only six D (not counting Jay Leach).
That leaves at least one spot open.
Posted by: TG | June 30, 2009 at 01:09 PM
Great news TG! Now I can continue my Oduya jersey!
Posted by: Henrik L | June 30, 2009 at 01:12 PM
continue wearing*
Posted by: Henrik L | June 30, 2009 at 01:12 PM
Two years ago we didn't even bother tendering Oduya as a RFA. He has shown a ton of improvement since then, but It would have been a real coup to have signed him to like a 4- 5 year deal back then though.
Posted by: NJSwampdragon | June 30, 2009 at 01:13 PM
I'd actually be okay if we didn't bring anyone from the outside in. While a scoring center or good defenseman would improve the team, it might not be available to us. I think Rolston will bounce back this year. Either way I think this team is good enough to win the cup.
Posted by: Brodie30 | June 30, 2009 at 01:13 PM
Whew!!!!!
Posted by: mckay21 | June 30, 2009 at 01:17 PM
Brodie30 drinking the Lou-Aid, this team needs improvement.....ie. center and top d-man
Posted by: HF | June 30, 2009 at 01:18 PM
Now I can get my Oduya jersey!
Posted by: ziggyluc | June 30, 2009 at 01:21 PM
Aftonbladet is reporting the contract is 27mil Kronor per year for 3 years. That is roughly over 3.8 mil/year
http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/hockeybladet/internationellt/nhl/article5452754.ab
Posted by: matt | June 30, 2009 at 01:21 PM
aftonbladet is reporting he signed for 3 years at about 27 mil Kronor per year. That is roughly over 3.8 mil dollars per year
http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/hockeybladet/internationellt/nhl/article5452754.ab
Posted by: matt | June 30, 2009 at 01:23 PM
Sorry it is about 3.48 mil per year
Posted by: matt | June 30, 2009 at 01:24 PM
We defenately need to bring up our Lowell gues for work. Look what Greene did? and Salmela was scooped up the minute we offered him.
Posted by: RickyM2 | June 30, 2009 at 01:25 PM