David Jones, Avalanche agree to 4-year, $16 million contract

With 20 or more goals scored in each of his past two seasons with the Avalanche, David Jones would have been a hot commodity on the NHL free-agent market July 1 if he was unsigned. On Thursday, the nike mercurial vapor vi fg Avalanche took him off the market.

The Avs signed the 27-year-old winger to a four-year, $16 million contract. Not bad for a guy drafted in the final round (ninth) of the 2003 NHL draft.

"It's real exciting. I talked to the coaching staff and the GM (Greg Sherman) and I said I really wanted to come back, and they indicated they wanted me back too," said Jones, who made $2.5 million this past season.

"(FreeThe Denver Post's Adrian Dater and Mike Chambers post analysis, notes, video, chats and more on this blog dedicated to the Colorado Avalanche.

agency) was definitely something I had to think about. You don't get nike mercurial superfly 3

to be a free agent very often. I've been on one- and two-year contracts, and I think the most important thing for my family was to have some security and know that I'm going to be in one place for a while. That's really what I was looking for."

Teams often must pay a premium to keep players off the open market, and arguably that's what the Avs did with a player who totaled 37 points in 72 games and a minus-8 in 2011-12.

But 20 has become a magic number of sorts in a league where scoring is on the decline, and Jones' consecutive seasons of 20-plus goals would have made him an attractive free agent to many teams.

When the Avs went with a line of Jones, Paul Stastny and Jamie McGinn in the final part of the season, there were good results. The trio is likely to stay intact next season.

"We were on fire after the trade deadline. I don't think there's any reason why, if we're together during the upcoming year, that we can't put up some good nike mercurial superfly iii numbers and really help our team. I think that's part of what they wanted with re-signing me," Jones said.

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