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Anaheim Ducks ink D Kevin Bieksa to two-year extension

Anaheim Ducks ink D Kevin Bieksa to two-year extension

Kevin Bieksa has signed a two-year contract extension with the Anaheim Ducks according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

On top of his current contract, which pays him $4.6 million per-year through this season, he will get paid $4 million per-year through the following two seasons.

He’s also 34 years old, so that’ll take him through age 36.

Good for Bieksa to get that type of security late in his career when a lot of players seem to get chopped off and make way less money in their mid-30. Interesting move by the Ducks, who have a ton of younger D, three of which – Sami Vatanen, Simon Despres and Hampus Lindholm, are all restricted free agents following this season per General Fanager. Vatanen ($1.2625M) and Lindholm ($894,166) will no doubt merit mega-raises from the Ducks -- especially in Lindholm's case.

Part the Bieksa extension this may have to do with general manager Bob Murray and his thoughts on Bieksa’s game per the Orange County Register:

Murray has long had an affinity for Bieksa since he worked in the Canucks’ organization when Bieksa was drafted and then played for the team’s American Hockey League affiliate. And he believes he may be getting a slight upgrade in some instances.

The upgrade would be from Francois Beauchemin, who Bieksa basically replaces as the wiley vet on the team's blueline.

Still, his numbers have dropped considerably to 14 points in 60 games last season. In 2011-12 he had 44 points in 78 games. But isn’t free agency all about signing players to enormous contracts they probably don’t really deserve?

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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