The Avalanche announced on Tuesday that defenseman Erik Johnson has signed a seven-year contract extension that will take him through the 2022-23 season.
The deal is worth $42 million at $6 million per season.
Johnson, 27, was under contract through this season with a cap hit of $3.75 million. He could have been an unrestricted free agent next July 1.
"The biggest thing for me is I wanted the term," Johnson said Tuesday night before Alex Tanguay scored at 1:18 of the 3-on-3 overtime for a 5-4 Avalanche win against Anaheim in the preseason opener for both teams. "I think we can win for a long time. I think we have a really good group. I'm just really proud to be an Avalanche for seven more years and realize how fortunate I am. I'm really thankful for that.
"I can get onto thinking about playing hockey and not have anything else to worry about. I'm really happy right now. It's a really big day. It's just another chapter and the big thing is continuing to write that."
Johnson, who is 6-feet-4 and 232 pounds, was tied for first among Avalanche defensemen with a career-high 12 goals last season despite missing the final 34 games because of a knee injury that required surgery. He was second among Colorado defensemen with 23 points and averaged a team-high 24:25 of ice time per game.
Johnson was named to his first NHL All-Star Game, but he wasn't able to play because of the injury.
"He really wanted to be here and we really wanted him here," executive vice president and general manager Joe Sakic said. "We found a solution and both sides are excited about the extension."
Johnson said he wanted to remain within the team salary structure, knowing players like Tyson Barrie and Nathan MacKinnon will be restricted free agents after this season.
"I don't want to say it's not about the money because that's what you negotiate over, but I wanted to fit in and make sure that we can get other guys signed too," he said. "We have a lot of really good players that are coming up for deals. It was fair for both sides. I wanted to go a longer term, we negotiated and came to a very fair deal. I'm really happy, it's a great deal for both sides.
"I wouldn't have signed here long term if I didn't think we were going to win. That was the biggest sticking point, I want to be here for the long haul. I want to win."
Johnson is especially pleased that he won't have a contract hassle hanging over his head during the season. He said Sakic initiated the first negotiation contact in May.
"It's crazy how fast five or six months fly by and then one phone call and you're talking every day," Johnson said. "Over the last week or so we really got into some discussions kind of to the point of no return where we were going to get something done.
"The biggest thing was I just wanted to think about playing for this team and I didn't want to have to come into the locker room and talk about my contract, just talk about the team and the team only. Now we can focus on the season and focus on winning hockey games, which is clearly the most important thing.
"There was never really a thought that I was going to leave. Sure, as a free agent you can get more money, but I was happy here and I love Denver, I love the organization and I had no interest in going anywhere else."
Johnson will be 35 when the contract ends, prompting him to say: "It makes me cringe. This is my ninth year coming up here and to think about taking me to that age ... I remember breaking in as a 19-year-old (with St. Louis) and playing with Keith Tkachuk who was that age and I thought he was so old.
"I'm sure when I'm that age when I finish this contract, if we won a few Stanley Cups, there's going to be some young 18-year-old looking at me and saying, 'Look at that old guy.' It's crazy how fast time flies."
Said Sakic: "He's an Avalanche and he wants to be here for the rest of his career. He's entering his prime. Any player, especially 'D,' this is their prime when they're this age. Late 20s or early 30s is when they're really in their wheelhouse. The last couple years he's made huge strides. We expect a lot of great things from him, as he does."
The first-overall pick by the Blues in the 2006 NHL draft, Johnson was traded to the Avalanche on Feb. 18, 2011 with Jay McClement and a 2011 first-round pick (Duncan Siemens) for Kevin Shattenkirk, Chris Stewart and a second-round pick (Ty Rattie).
Johnson has 48 goals and 145 assists in 456 NHL games. *****
This was the Avalanche lineup Tuesday:
FORWARDS Landeskog - Soderberg - Comeau Tanguay - Grigorenko - MacKinnon Martinsen - Hishon - Rantanen Everberg - Bleackley - Skille
DEFENSE Gormley - Barrie Zadorov - Guenin Holden - Clark
GOALIES Varlamov Will