Rangers Re-Sign Leetch

May 24, 1999 / 6:10 PM EDT / AP

Brian Leetch is staying with the New York Rangers with a new, beefed up contract that reportedly will make him the highest paid defenseman in the NHL.

The Rangers made the announcement at a news conference, but declined to discuss terms of the deal in which Leetch's reported annual salary of $8.75 million would make him best paid player in team history.

There have been reports for weeks that Leetch will get $35 million over four years.

It was either that or lose him to free agency.

Several teams were interested in Leetch, who has won the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman two times and generally regarded as one of the best players in the game for 12 years. Had he decided to test the free-agent market, there was speculation he could become hockey's first $10 million-a-year player.

With the retirement of Wayne Gretzky, and the Rangers having missed the playoffs for a second year in a row, it became critical for the team to sign Leetch, their captain and highest profile player along with goaltender Mike Richter. Richter is currently under a long-term contract signed last year.

Re-signing Leetch will go a long way toward restoring the Rangers' credibility in the NHL and perhaps help in their search for some fresh free-agent talent to get them back in the playoffs.

Among those expected to be available when the free-agent market opens on July 1 are Colorado's Theo Fleury and San Jose's Vincent Damphousse.

Leetch is third on the Rangers' career scoring list with 177 goals and 578 assists for 755 points leading all defensemen in the team's history. This past season, Leetch totaled 55 points fifth among NHL defensemen.

Leetch had said all along that he wanted to continue playing in New York. He has been one of the Rangers' top players since joining them after the 1988 Olympics, and played a starring role when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994. That year, Leetch won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the MVP of the playoffs.

Leetch has been a star in the NHL since beginning his career in New York 12 seasons ago.

He won the Calder Trophy as the league's rookie of the year in 1988-89 and then two Norris Trophies as the league's top defenseman, in 1992 and 1997. It was also in 1992 and 1997 that Leetch was voted onto the NHL's first all-star team. In addition, Leetch at the age of 31 has already played in seven All-Star Games.

In the 1991-92 season, he pulled off a rarity for a defenseman when he reached the 100-point mark.