The Phoenix Coyotes have agreed to terms with UFA forward Lauri Korpikoski on a four-year deal worth $10 million, according to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun.
While not a household name, Korpikoski has been a productive contributor for Phoenix since arriving from New York in 2009.
He posted 19- and 17- goal seasons in 2010-11 and 2011-12, and chipped in with 11 points in 36 games last year (missing extensive time with an upper-body injury.)
The 26-year-old Finn was the 19th overall selection at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, and made some waves during the lockout when he suggested sending head coach Dave Tippett a DVD of his Finnish league exploits -- he scored nine points in his first four games with TPS Turku -- to “show that I can score on [the] power play.”
With the club locked into new ownership and the city of Glendale for at least the next five years, Phoenix feels it’s on a new level when it comes to offering players money and term -- like, say, $10 million over four years for Korpikoski.
“Now we feel that we’re on an even playing field with the other 29 teams in the league in regards to what we can sell,” ‘Yotes GM Don Maloney told NHL.com. “We know we’re going to be here, we know who’s running the club and how we’re going to run it and it just makes my job much easier than it was.”