TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs have signed defenceman Nikita Zaitsev to a seven-year contract extension.
The deal carries an annual average value of US$4.5 million per season and will keep the Russian blueliner locked up through the 2023-24 campaign.
The 25-year-old Zaitsev had a breakout rookie season with the Leafs in 2016-17, registering 36 points (four goals, 32 assists) in 82 games and leading Toronto players with an average of just over 22 minutes of ice time per game.
The Moscow native also appeared in four playoff contests with Toronto after missing the first two games of the Leafs' first-round series with Washington with an upper-body injury.
Prior to coming to Toronto, Zaitsev skated in 317 regular season games in the Kontinental Hockey League with Sibir Novosibirsk and CSKA Moscow, registering 95 points (32 goals, 63 assists).
He also collected two assists in four games with Russia at the World Cup of Hockey in 2016.
The Leafs also announced a one-year deal with forward Ben Smith worth $650,000.
The 28-year-old Smith had four points (two goals, two assists) in 36 games with the Maple Leafs last season after being claimed off waivers from Colorado.
