06-25-2019, 12:57 AM
LOS ANGELES -- Marian Gaborik spent the last few months living at the beach and scoring clutch goals for the eventual Stanley Cup champions. The star left wing saw absolutely no reason to wake up from his dream life with the Los Angeles Kings. Gaborik agreed to a seven-year deal Wednesday to stay with the Kings, passing on the financial possibilities of unrestricted free agency to stay with the champs. According to TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun, the deal has an average annual value of $4.875 million. The deal will pay Gaborik $6.075 million in each of the first three years, and then amounts of $5.075 million, $4.575 million, $3.175 million, and $3.075 million over the final four seasons of the package. "I know I could get maybe more money if I would have gone to free agency, but it wasnt about money," Gaborik said. "I wanted to stay here and be part of a great team." Los Angeles acquired the Slovak scoring machine from Columbus on March 5, and he was an immediate hit. Gaborik scored 16 points in 19 regular-season games before leading the NHL with 14 post-season goals during the Kings run to their second title in three years. Kings general manager Dean Lombardi struck a long-term deal before Gaborik became a free agent next week. Gaboriks contract is worth roughly $34 million, likely less than a seven-time 30-goal scorer would have commanded on the open market. The 32-year-old Gaborik was coy about his future during the Kings draining playoff run, saying he would make those decisions after the season. Away from the public, Gaborik had clearly formed a plan. "All along I wanted to stay here," Gaborik said. "The organization knew it, the players knew it, everybody knew it, my agent knew it. I believed we could get it done." Playing on the Kings top line alongside centre Anze Kopitar and captain Dustin Brown, Gaborik scored 22 points in 26 post-season games with the Kings before raising the Stanley Cup for the first time in his 13-season NHL career. Gaboriks 14 goals were one shy of Wayne Gretzkys franchise post-season record. He repeatedly scored in important situations for the Kings, including the tying goals late in two Stanley Cup finals games and in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals against Chicago. Gaborik filled an enormous need for the Kings, who acquired him in a bid to boost one of the NHLs least productive offences. Gaboriks goal-scoring talent fit perfectly with Kopitar, one of hockeys top playmakers, as the Kings improbably became the highest-scoring team in the playoffs. "To play along Kopi, probably one of the top centres in the league, just the way we clicked pretty quickly was great," Gaborik said. Gaborik also showed a willingness to play responsible defensive hockey in coach Darryl Sutters system, which further endeared him to his fellow Kings. He was embraced after the club acquired him for Matt Frattin and two draft picks, even moving into fellow ex-Columbus forward Jeff Carters home near the beach. Gaborik clearly loves the Kings lifestyle along with their playing style. He recently posted a series of photos on Instagram showing him celebrating at the Pacific Ocean -- running down the beach, lifting the Cup over his head while shirtless in the surf, and helping his girlfriend drink champagne from the trophy while his mother laughed in the background. "I knew right away: Great group of guys, great team, great fans, and obviously being in a great environment in terms of lifestyle and everything," Gaborik said. "That made a lot of sense for me. The No. 1 thing is winning a Cup and having a chance year after year, going into these games and having a chance to win every game." The Kings are the fourth NHL team for Gaborik, who mostly met enormous expectations while playing for the New York Rangers and Minnesota Wild. But the three-time NHL All-Star has struggled with injuries in the past two seasons while getting traded twice. Gaborik has scored 704 career points, and he ranks 13th among active players with 347 goals, including three 40-goal seasons. He is a two-time Olympian for Slovakia, but missed the Sochi Games with an injury. Just as it did in 2012, Los Angeles championship team will return nearly intact in the fall. The Kings re-signed defenceman Matt Greene to a four-year contract on Tuesday, and their only significant unrestricted free agent is veteran defenceman Willie Mitchell. The Kings have several long-term contracts on their books, yet Lombardi has scarcely made an inaccurate move in the last five years while building his two-time champions. "To be a part of this, Im pretty happy about it," Gaborik said. "Hopefully we can just keep this train rolling." Chuma Edoga Jersey . -- Fantasy football owners and Denver Broncos fans can rest easy: Peyton Manning is back. Dennis Byrd Jersey . 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The right-hander said he threw about 30 pitches in a routine bullpen session Sunday at Yankee Stadium, his final hurdle before starting Tuesday night at Tampa Bay.Milwaukee, WI (SportsNetwork.com) - Hoping to recover from four consecutive losses, the Marquette Golden Eagles will entertain the 25th-ranked Butler Bulldogs in a Big East Conference showdown at the BMO Harris Bradley Center on Saturday. The recent skid - all to Big East competition - has dropped Marquette down to 2-6 in league play this season. The 10-10 Golden Eagles are coming off a recent defeat at the hands of Seton Hall, 80-70, at home, where Marquette is 8-4 on the year. Butler is on the upswing, jumping into the Top-25 earlier in the week. The Bulldogs have won two straight decisions, and four of their last five altogether. Butler took down Creighton (64-61) and Seton Hall (77-57) in the teams last two outings to improve to 5-3 in Big East play. Marquette holds the advantage in the all-time series, 16-13, as these two teams will meet one other time later this season in Indianapolis. The sides split the two-game season series a year ago. Butler faced a tough test as the team hosted the then-24th ranked Seton Hall Pirates on Sunday, but it was the Bulldogs that came out and proved why they should be the ones ranked. Butler connected on 49.1 percent of its shots from the floor, and held the Pirates to just 36.7 percent shooting, which included a 4-of-24 mark from 3-point range. Andrew Chrabascz led the charge for the Bulldogs with 16 points, while Kellen Dunham scored 15 points, Roosevelt Jones added 12 and seven rebounds, Alex Barlow tallied 11 points with eight assists and six boards, and Kelan Martin came off the bench to net 10 points to round out the impressive offensive performance for Butler. Dunham currently leads Butler and ranks fourth in the Big East in scoring, netting 16.1 ppg this season on 43.9 percent shooting from thhe floor.ddddddddddddThe big man Jones has been a well-rounded surprise for the Bulldogs this season, averaging 13.2 ppg, with a team-leading 79 assists and a second-best 6.0 rpg mark. Chrabascz rounds out a trio of double-digit scorers for Butler at 10.0 ppg. Kameron Woods is the teams best rebounder, and ranks second in the Big East with 9.0 boards per outing. The Bulldogs as a unit are scoring 70.7 ppg, and are holding opponents to a league-best 60.1 ppg this season. Marquette connected on 42.4 percent of its shots from the floor in Wednesday nights contest against Seton Hall, but the Golden Eagles also watched and were seemingly powerless to stop a Pirates team that buried 13-of-26 from 3- point range, and a torrid scoring pace set by Sterling Gibbs. Matt Carlino did the best he could to keep his Eagles in the game, finishing with a team-best 16 points, adding in six rebounds and five assists. Sandy Cohen III added 11 points in the loss, while Juan Anderson and Derrick Wilson each chipped in with 10 points. Wilson dished out eight assists and had seven rebounds in the losing effort. Carlino is the only Marquette player to have started all 20 games this season for the Golden Eagles, and its clear why. The transfer guard from BYU is leading the charge in terms of scoring this season at 14.7 ppg with a team- best 68 assists and 29 steals. Duane Wilson (11.7 ppg) and Luke Fischer (10.2 ppg in 12 games played) round out a trio of double-digit scorers for Marquette this season. The Golden Eagles rank second to last, however, in the Big East in terms of scoring offense, with a 68.1 ppg clip. The team is also in the bottom portion of the league rankings in terms of scoring defense, allowing opponents to net 65.8 ppg this season. 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