Ruutu signed for 3 years

[Treici]

www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=451209

Raleigh, NC— Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has agreed to terms with forward Tuomo Ruutu on a three-year contract. Under the terms of the deal, Ruutu will be paid $3 million in 2009-10, $4 million in 2010-11 and $4.4 million in 2011-12.

"We are very happy to have Tuomo under contract on a long-term deal and to avoid arbitration," said Rutherford. "He is still quite young at 26, and is one of the cornerstones of our team moving forward."

Ruutu, 26, established career highs in goals (26), assists (28) and points (54) during the 2008-09 regular season. Originally acquired by Carolina on Feb. 26, 2008, the Vantaa, Finland, native ranked second among Hurricanes in goals and third in points last season. He led the team in hits (228), ranking 10th in the NHL in that category. Ruutu (6'0", 200 lbs.) was three-for-six (50%) with one game-winning goal in the shootout, and was selected by the Carolina media as the winner of the 2008-09 "Good Guy Award," given for cooperation with the local media. Ruutu made his first career Stanley Cup playoffs appearance during the Hurricanes' run to the Eastern Conference Finals, scoring one goal and adding three assists (4 points) in 18 postseason contests.

Drafted by the Chicago Blackhawks in the first round, ninth overall, in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft, Ruutu has totaled 78 goals, 95 assists (173 points) and 354 penalty minutes in 324 career NHL games with Chicago and Carolina. He has represented his native Finland in eight major international tournaments, including the 2004 World Cup of Hockey and the 2006, 2007 and 2008 IIHF World Championships. Ruutu's career statistics are listed below.

[mscaniac]

RUU HOO! This is such great news. I think both DG and mslarose are out of town today, when I emailed her to tell her about the signing she said she thought her phone was going to blow up from all the texts, emails and calls she was getting all at one time! LOL..

[dewaltgirl]

I had select a seat.

I love Tuomo and am quite happy to have him around for 3 more years....but he'd better be scoring 70 points each season for that money!!!!! At the very least he'd better become a bit more defensively sound. *sigh* Toooooo much!

[mscaniac]

You really do think we are paying him too much money don't you? Can I ask why? We are paying players like Pitkanen even more than Tuomo is making in both this season and the third season of his contract and don't get me wrong he is good at what he does but Tuomo brings such grit and determination and give 110 percent every time he steps on the ice. I know he has a history of injuries but IF last season holds true he seems to be over those and lord knows this team needs guys that will bring what he does to the ice every night. Also IMO with players that play like Tuomo I would certainly think teams would expect various and sundry injuries along the way.
I can say I do wish we could send him to some sort of class to teach him to stay up on his feet more! LOL

[dewaltgirl]

Only Joni and Staal are making more or have a bigger salary cap hit than Tuomo. IMO, if Tuomo puts up the points, stays healthy AND we get our big guys signed NEXT summer, then it will be money well spent. If he is ONLY going to be the "grit" and "hit" guy then it's way too much. IMO Joni is also paid too much but it is MUCH more difficult to get a #1 defenseman who is going to play the minutes that Joni does and be the puck moving power play quaterback and we would never get that guy for less than Joni. Someone to be a "grit" and "hit" guy would definitely come in for less than Tuomo's cap hit.

I don't hold Tuomo's injuries against him at all. It is a part of that type of play, however, it's also a reason why that type of play (if points are not put up) also is not worth a $3.8 cap hit on a budget team when the cap is all but certainly going down and the players have already used that cushion they had in the CBA.

If Tuomo does indeed improve with each season, then 70 points shouldn't be unreachable at all. If he's going to be the top paid winger, he should ideally be on the #1 line with Eric Staal, the top paid center. So, ideally, the two should feed off each other and produce big #s.

I'm also looking towards next summer when we'll need to sign 2 goaltenders, 4 defenseman and 3 forwards (if we don't promote AHLers.) Tuomo's 4.2 cap hit (along with Joni's 4.5) could very well throw a wrench into things.

I would have preferred to see him at $3.8-4.0 on the top end and somewhere around 3.0-3.2 at the bottom.

[mscaniac]

Points well taken. I understand better now why you feel the way you do. I do agree with you that it could make things dicey when it comes to next summer with everyone we will potentially have to sign.
I gathered from several things JR said after the signing such as "Tuomo will be a cornerstone of our team going forward" that he too expects him to be a top line winger for that money.

[mslarose27]

I'm thrilled Tuomo re-signed! But I have to say I think its too much $ too. If he turns into the speedy, top line winger that we need him to be and he's capable of being, then ok. I still think it's a risk, especially with all the contracts we'll have to deal with next summer.