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The New Jersey Devils extended another one of their core pieces, as the team has announced they've signed Andy Greene to a long-term contract.

Greene, 31, signed a five-year, $25 million ($5M per) deal to stay in New Jersey. He initially had one year remaining on his contract, so he's now Devils property for the next six seasons.

Some thoughts on his extension:

- That is a lot of years to give a 31-year-old, but I can live with it. Greene is a guy who relies on his skating ability and smarts much more so than physical attributes, so he should be able to sustain a high-level play for at least a few more seasons before starting to wear done.

- With Bryce Salvador and Marek Zidlicky set to become unrestricted free agents after this upcoming season, the Devils will lose 2/3 of their regular veterans assuming they leave. There will be a huge youth movement on defense in the coming years with Jon Merrill, Eric Gelinas, Adam Larsson and Damon Severson, among others, coming through the ranks. They'll need a veteran who can help mentor them and relieve those guys of tough minutes against top competition. By the time Greene starts declining to a 2nd or 3rd pairing guy, some of these kids should be ready for a big role with the team.

- Only eight defensemen had a higher shot attempt for% than Greene lasts season. Among that group: Olympians Drew Doughty, Duncan Keith and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. What's encouraging about Greene's 56.3 SAF% is that its actually steadily improved over the last three seasons. It went from 50.8% in 2011-12, to 55.7% in the lockout shortened season and obviously over 56% last year.

Greene's a bit of a strange case in that those numbers are improving with age, and as he continues to play more minutes against stronger competition.

- I recently wrote to expect something 4-5 years worth a little over $5 million for Greene, so these figures are right in line with what I figured. When you're extending a guy who plays almost 25 minutes against the opposing team's best players every night and not only a) drives possession, and; b) also contributes offensively, it's not going to be cheap.

That's a good contract for a good player.

- I don't think we can underestimate the new ownership group's role in all this. When the Devils were rumoured to be struggling financially, they seemed a little restricted. Now it appears Lou Lamoriello can spend as he wishes. He's given out three contracts at least five years in length this summer, and the team is spending on an analytics department as well. This ownership group wants to win, and they seem willing to spend to do so. That's great news for the Devils and their fan base.

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