Bobby Ryan has agreed to stay in Anaheim on a 5-year, $25.5 million contract, ending a lengthy summer of negotiations between the Ducks and their leading goal scorer last season.
The contract averages out to a $5.1 million salary-cap hit, just below the $5.325 million cap hit of forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry – exactly what Ryan told the team he wanted earlier this summer. The sticking point was the duration of the contract. The Ducks wanted to keep the 23-year-old under contract beyond 2013, when Getzlaf and Perry were set to become free agents. Ryan was believed to be seeking a shorter-team deal than Anaheim was willing to offer.
The Ducks haven’t officially announced the contract. If it’s approved by the NHL, Ryan will earn $3.25 million in actual salary next season and $5,562,500 each year thereafter. That will make him the team’s second-highest paid player (to Getzlaf) beginning in 2011-12.
Ryan had 35 goals and 64 points last year, his first full season in Anaheim. He had 31 goals and 57 points the year before, when he was assigned to the American Hockey League out of training camp and appeared in 64 NHL games.
According to CapGeek.com, the Ducks will have $5,793,750 in salary-cap space once Ryan’s contract is made official.
1:15 p.m.: The Ducks have announced the contract as official. A conference call with Ryan is underway.