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Four more years: Fleury signs $23 million extension with Penguins

Buffalo Sabres v Pittsburgh Penguins

PITTSBURGH, PA - NOVEMBER 01: Marc-Andre Fleury #29 of the Pittsburgh Penguins defends the net against the Buffalo Sabres at Consol Energy Center on November 1, 2014 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images)

NHLI via Getty Images

The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-signed goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to a four-year, $23 million contract extension, the club announced today.

“I believe in Marc-Andre Fleury, as the team does,” said general manager Jim Rutherford. “He’s won before and he will win again. We’re very pleased to have him signed long term.”

Starting next season, Fleury, 29, will have a $5.75 million cap hit. Per CapGeek, there are currently 10 NHL goalies with a higher cap hit.

In terms of comparables, when taking into account both salary and term, Ryan Miller’s three-year deal ($6 million cap hit) with the Vancouver Canucks is an apt one, as is Semyon Varlamov’s five-year deal ($5.9 million) with the Colorado Avalanche and Jaroslav Halak’s four-year deal ($4.5 million cap hit) with the New York Islanders.

Fleury has been the subject of much debate in Pittsburgh. He back-stopped the Pens to the Stanley Cup in 2009, but has struggled during recent postseasons. His career playoff save percentage is a modest .905.

An excellent start to the 2014-15 campaign (7-2-0, .931 SV%) no doubt helped his chances of signing the long-term extension.

An unimpressive list of pending free agents, as well as Pittsburgh’s lack of NHL-ready prospects at the position, may also have helped.

Related: Rutherford on Fleury: ‘As long as I’m the GM, he’ll be our goalie’