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For a little better then a month we [the Hurricane fans] have had to sit by and listen to all of the trade speculation surrounding defenseman Tim Gleason. Sitting in last place in the Eastern Conference it was hard to shoot down the rumors that Gleason (who was set to become a UFA) wouldn’t be traded before the deadline. A lot of speculation on the internet was that the Philadelphia Flyers were [or should be] interested in bringing him in. Then as the month went along beat writers speculated that perhaps Gleason would be a good fit in Chicago, Boston, or even Washington. At the end of the day [perhaps I should say in the middle of the day] Tim Gleason ended up resigning with the team that he’d spent the majority of his career with.

Gleason ended up signing a four – year deal worth $16 Million dollars with the Hurricanes. He will make $3.5 Million in 2012 – 2013 [which is a good pay bump over his current $2.75M contract.] The following two years Gleason will make $4.5 M [’13 – ’14 and ’14 – ‘15] and in the final year [2015 – 2016] Gleason will make $3.5 M.

This is the first time since 2001 that Jim Rutherford [Hurricanes President and General Manager] has extended a contract in the regular season, a sign of just how important the organization feels Gleason is. GM Rutherford had this to say in the press release about Gleason: “He is one of our core players, someone who brings character and leadership to our locker room, along with being a key piece on the ice. This is a very important signing for our team going forward.”

The deal also solidifies the top four Hurricane defensemen for the next few seasons (Tim Gleason, Jamie McBain, Justin Faulk, and Joni Pitkanen.) By the time Pitkanen and Gleason’s deal runs through Ryan Murphy and Brian Dumoulin (in theory) will be ready to step in.

Click to here Gleason talk about resigning: http://www.xmhomeice.com/onair_audio/12-01-30%20Tim%20Gleason%20.mp3

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