The Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday agreed to a new multi-year deal with defenseman Braydon Coburn.
According to CSNPhilly.com, the 26-year-old has agreed to four-year, $18 million contract extension. Coburn's cap hit would be $4.5 million.
"The last couple of days, we got the deal done," Coburn told CSNPhilly.com. "I feel great that I'm going to be staying with my family in Philadelphia. I've been here a long time. I'm glad it worked out. It was a good process and it's nice to have it done so I can focus on hockey, not that I wasn't before but it's always nice to have it done. It's an honor to be part of something special like the Flyers."
Coburn has been a fixture along the Flyers back end since joining the club in February 2007. The Atlanta Thrashers dealt Coburn to the Flyers in exchange for defenseman Alexei Zhitnik. Coburn has 26 goals, 114 points and a plus-31 rating in 393 career games spanning six-plus seasons. He has three assists and a plus-1 rating in 14 games this season for the Flyers.
Flyers coach Peter Laviolette is glad to see Coburn's hard work rewarded with a new contract. Coburn averages 21:31 of ice time per game.
"He's a big defenseman that is able to play against the other team's better players," Laviolette said. "He's got a good head on his shoulders, he reads the play well. (Coburn and Kimmo Timonen) have been a good pair for quite a while. When you get a defenseman who is able to play all situations for you ... he provides a lot of minutes and they are usually against the top players in the league."
