Capitals re-sign Nicklas Backstrom to five-year, $46M deal

Washington Capitals centre Nicklas Backstrom has re-signed with the only NHL team he has played for, agreeing to a five-year, $46 million (U.S., or $60 million Canadian) deal that will carry an average annual value of $9.2 million.

Backstrom, 32, is the franchise’s career assists leader and one of two players to record at least 900 points with the Capitals. Frequent linemate Alex Ovechkin is the other. Backstrom is the 26th player to reach that mark; of the other 25, 23 are in the Hockey Hall of Fame. Playing on the last year of a 10-year, $67-million contract, he has 35 points in 39 games this season for the Capitals, who lead the Metropolitan Division with 47 points.

The fourth overall pick by the Capitals in the 2006 NHL draft, Backstrom negotiated this deal without the help of an agent, dealing directly with general manager Brian MacLellan during a process in which Backstrom felt like he didn’t have to “be specific.”

Backstrom said parting with his agent, Mark Levine, in the summer was about more than money. He wanted to learn more about the negotiating process.

With his $9.2 million cap hit, he will be taking up 11.3 per cent of the salary cap limit ($81.5 million). The percentage is identical to when he signed his previous 10-year contract on May 17, 2010, when his average annual value was $6.7 million and the upper limit was $59.4 million, according to CapFriendly.com.

The Capitals now can turn to the other key member of their 2018 Stanley Cup roster playing on an expiring contract: goaltender Braden Holtby.

Holtby, 30, signed a five-year, $30.5-million deal in 2015. Holtby has a resume that is similar to that of Sergei Bobrovsky, who signed a seven-year, $70 million contract with the Florida Panthers in July. Asked back in September whether he would offer a hometown discount, Holtby didn’t rule it out. The Capitals, who are on a tight salary cap budget this season, most likely will be again.

Additionally, Ovechkin’s original record 13-year, $124 million contract is set to expire in 2021. Ovechkin cannot sign until July 1. Backstrom and Ovechkin have expressed the desire to play with each other for as long as possible. Ovechkin told the Post before the season started that he had never thought about the possibility that the duo could one day never play together.

“I don’t think so,” Ovechkin said in September. “You know, I think what we did for the city, what we did for the team, it’s going to be forever, right? So, but again, I hope he’ll sign long-term, and he will stay until the last day. His legacy is here, and I think he would not have more fun to play on different teams than here.”

Backstrom echoed the sentiment: “I just think we’ve been playing with each other for a long time. And so when you come to work, and you see a guy like that, all the time, so which is very fortunate for us in this organization. So I mean, obviously one day, it’s gonna happen that someday we both retire, but at the same time we shouldn’t look that far ahead. We should just take day by day.”