Red Wings sign Kronwall to seven-year extension
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(Reuters) - The Detroit Red Wings have signed Swedish defenseman Niklas Kronwall to a seven-year contract extension worth $33.25 million, the team said on Monday.
The deal will keep the 2000 first-round pick under contract through the 2018-19 National Hockey League season. He would have become an unrestricted free agent in July.
"Signing Kronwall and keeping him here is a real important step for us in the next 12- to 24-month process of trying to figure out where we will be going forward," Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland told the team's website.
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Kronwall set personal highs for goals (11), power-play goals (5) and game-winning goals (3) last season. He has two points in nine games this season.
The 30-year-old Kronwall won a Stanley Cup with Detroit in 2008 when he led all NHL defenseman in playoff points. He also captured a gold medal with Sweden at the 2006 Winter Olympics.
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Frank Pingue)