The Blackhawks and Brent Seabrook have agreed on an eight-year contract extension worth roughly $6.85 million per year. Seabrook will be entering his eleventh season in the NHL, all with the Blackhawks.

During his ten years as a Hawk so far, Seabrook has become one of the “core” members of the franchise while winning three Stanley Cups. He is regarded as one of the league’s better defensive defenseman, and can also light the lamp with his booming slap shot. His season high goal total thus far is 9 (three times), but you can expect 30-40 points from Seabrook each year.

While his numbers for a defenseman are pretty good, his intangible contributions are what make him as important as he is. He has always been considered one of the most prominent leaders on the team, despite ever being named a team captain. That changed recently, however, as Seabrook was elected by coach Joel Quenneville to be a new alternate captain given Patrick Sharp’s departure this past summer. Seabrook has always been deserving of that title, and now he finally has it.

Along with his natural leadership abilities, Seabrook has come up with a countless number of clutch goals over the course of his career. From his Game 7 overtime winner against Detroit, to his overtime winner in Game 4 of the Cup Final against Boston, to his goal in triple overtime against Nashville this past postseason, and so many more, Seabrook has consistently come up big for the Hawks when needed. He has always seemed to elevate his game as the stage gets bigger and the lights turn brighter.

When his time with the Blackhawks is all said and done with, he’ll definitely have a case to one day get his number retired by the organization. The only glitch with that is the fact that a certain Chris Chelios also wore number 7 with the Hawks. If Seabs gets his number retired, Chelios will have to then as well.

All in all, this is a good deal for both sides involved. Seabrook is getting a nice raise (he will be making more per year than Duncan Keith when this new deal kicks in next season), and this will ultimately become a team-friendly deal as time progresses and the league salary cap eventually rises.