Flyers re-sign Mason to extension
The Flyers officially agreed to a 1-year, $1.5 million extension for newly-acquired goaltender Steve Mason.
Before the Flyers even acquired goaltender Steve Mason from Columbus before last Wednesday's trade deadline, general manager Paul Holmgren had already contacted Mason's agent about a contract extension.
It didn't take long to finalize one.
The Flyers officially agreed to a 1-year, $1.5 million extension for Mason, who was due to become a restricted free agent this summer.
It's a significant pay cut for Mason, 24, who was due a minimum $3.2 million qualifying offer in the summer. Mason is in the final season of a 2-year, $5.8 million deal. He voluntarily took less with the Flyers, with the hopes of rejuvenating his career and earning back what he is losing.
As Mason hinted, it's no guarantee that the Flyers would have retained his rights at the $3.2 million price. At that point, he would have become an unrestricted free agent and probably signed for somewhere near what he did now. Hence, Mason said he was comfortable "not waiting for it."
"Whether that would have been given to me remains to be seen," Mason said of the non-guaranteed qualifying offer. "My goal is to be the best goaltender that I can be, and in my opinion, that is a No. 1 goaltender. I know that's going to take a lot of work. It's something I'm prepared to do."
For the latest updates, follow Frank Seravalli on Twitter: @DNFlyers