In the summer of 2009, defensemen Dennis Seidenberg’s first dip into the unpredictable waters of unrestricted free agency didn’t necessarily go his way. Not at all, in fact.

A standout on the Carolina Hurricanes’ improbable run to the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals -- stunning Boston in seven games in round two -- the German-born blue-liner hit the open market with a mile-long list of potential suitors given his postseason play, which included a sixth-best 59 hits and fourth-best 39 blocked shots in just 16 playoff contests.

But as the summer days turned to fall nights, Seidenberg, 28 at the time, settled for less (and then some), ultimately latching on with the Florida Panthers for one year and $2.25 million. Recording two goals and 23 points in 62 games with the Panthers, a trade out of the Southeast’s basement and into a slumping Bruins locker room proved to be the career-changer for the Boston top-four d-man.

A change that’s led to a far different endgame in yet another contract year for Seidenberg, as he and the B’s sealed the deal on a four-year, $16 million extension.

“Everything took off here,” Seidenberg, now in his fifth season with Boston, admitted. “Everything started basically here, I finally found a spot where things worked out the way I’d always imagined.”

In a career that had stops in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Carolina and Florida before Boston, it was a chance with a trusting coaching staff that’s morphed Seidenberg from journeyman to reliable asset.

“That’s a big part of coaches having trust in you, it makes things a lot easier and you just have more faith in yourself and everything gets going from there,” the former sixth round pick noted, adding, “If somebody trusts in you, you want to be in that situation and just keep getting better and better and performing every year and that’s how I feel I’ve been playing and I still think I’ve got a lot.”

Since coming to the Hub, Seidenberg has been a critical element of two runs to the Stanley Cup Final -- including an ironman-like 2011 run that saw him log more minutes than any other playoff skater (690:49 of time on ice in 25 games for the B’s) -- all while being the Bruins’ “warrior.”

“I think he’s been one of our core guys since we got him. You hear me talk often about character guys; he’s definitely that, on and off the ice,” B’s general manager Peter Chiarelli said of Seidenberg on Thursday night. “He plays our style – heavy game, heavy game that we like. He’s been a warrior for us. There’s a lot of things that he has that are compatible with the way we want to play. Still, he’s 32, but we feel he’s in very good condition; keeps good care of himself and frankly he wanted to stay here so it was easier to get done for that reason.”

Inked to a deal that keeps him in town through the 2017-18 season, and with a full no-trade for the first two and a half years and then a partial for the remainder of the deal, the 32-year-old defensemen knew that Boston was the place to stay before the puck even dropped on this contract year.

“I’m at a stage where I’ve got to look at my family, I mean I’ve got kids in school now and you want to kind of plan and know what’s going on next year so that’s why I wanted to get it over with,” said Seidenberg. “ I want to be here, they wanted me here, and both sides gave a little bit and I think at the end, it’s good. I’m really happy to be here for another five years.”

While one source told me earlier this summer that Seidenberg could’ve fetched as much as far ‘five to five and a half million on the open market’, the rugged defensemen’s extension with the Bruins is a true win-win for both parties involved.

Given the nature of Seidenberg’s game -- heavy on both blocked shots and physical battles in front of the net -- science tells us that his body will eventually break down, limiting his effectiveness. So, while the contract doesn’t give No. 44 the big time dollars that a No. 2 defensemen earns, the latter years likely pay him more than his market value then. But most importantly and perhaps most notably, the contract’s length tells us that Seidenberg will be part of Boston’s Cup window ‘til the very end, or by the time that Chara is entering his mid-40s and in all likelihood retired.

For Chiarelli and the B’s, it’s yet another deal focused 90% on the present, but with a slight look and awareness towards what the future holds, something both sides acknowledged.

“I have a lot of fun playing here, and that’s important, and the coaches have trust in me and that’s the most important thing I think,” Seidenberg, a veteran of 10 NHL seasons, noted after the extension became finalized. “If I go somewhere else for a lot of money and then things don’t work out that way, I think to be honest, in the situation, it was the most important thing or the most important part. We have a good team here and in the future I think we’re going to be good for a lot of years.”

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