The cap-league implications of Bjugstad’s contract extension.

The Florida Panthers have avoided an upcoming battle with one of their best young players by signing pending restricted free agent, Nick Bjugstad, to a new six year, $24.6M contract. The 22 year old was drafted by the Panthers 19^th overall back in the 2010 NHL entry draft. He spent three years at the University of Minnesota before joining the Panthers near the end of the 2012-13 season, playing 11 games for Florida and burning off the first year of his entry-level contract.

Bjugstad was Florida's leading scorer last year, scoring 16 goals and finishing the year with 38 points, the highest of his career to date. Currently, he is leading the Panthers in scoring again this year with 13 goals and 21 points and obviously a key piece in Florida's future going forward. Six years is a big commitment to give a player who has yet to even hit 40 points in a season, but if Bjugstad continues to trend upward like he's going, this six year deal with a cap hit of $4.1M could turn out to be a bargain for the Panthers.

Thanks to Frozen Pool, here's what his numbers look like so far this year:

If we compare the ten closest salaried cap hits to the one Bjugstad just signed, we can see that Bjugstad is holding his own as far as offense goes. Only Jiri Hudler and Tyler Bozak have more points than Bjugstad.