Report: Red Wings Sign Kronwall for Five Years

Canada’s TSN reported on Thursday that the Detroit Red Wings have agreed to a five-year contract extension with defenseman Niklas Kronwall. The deal is reportedly worth $15 million.

The 25-year-old Kronwall broke into the NHL in 2003-04, filling in on an injury-depleted Red Wings lineup until suffering an injury of his own, a broken leg from a freak accident during pre-game warmups in a January 23, 2004, matchup with in Los Angeles.

After spending the 2004-05 NHL lockout season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, where ne was named the league’s top defenseman, Kronwall was back with the Wings for 2005-06, only to suffer another major injury. In a preseason game in Colorado on September 27, 2005, his left ACL was torn on a hit by Dan Hinote, leaving him off the roster until February of 2006.

The deal reportedly calls for Kronwall to be paid $1.5 million in 2007-08, $3 million in 2008-09, $3.25 million in 2009-10, $3.5 million in 2010-2011, and $3.75 million in 2011-2012, making his salary cap hit $3 million. He will make $1.14 million this season, in the last year of a two-year deal signed in the summer of 2005.