Beauchemin

The Ducks have signed defenseman Francois Beauchemin to a three-year contract extension through the 2014-15 NHL season. Per club policy, no financial terms of the deal were disclosed.

“Francois is a dedicated, versatile and hard-working defenseman who is committed to our organization,” said Ducks Executive Vice President/General Manager Bob Murray. “We are extremely pleased to have him under contract for the next three years.”

Beauchemin, 31 (6/4/80), was a key member of the Ducks’ 2007 Stanley Cup championship club. The 6-0, 204-pound defenseman has appeared in 306 career regular season games with Anaheim, collecting 30-81=111 points with 214 penalty minutes (PIM). Among all-time defensive leaders, Beauchemin ranks fifth in scoring, goals and assists, and tied for fourth in game-winning goals (8) and overtime goals (2). He has also played 61 playoff games with the Ducks, scoring 8-12=20 points with 70 PIM. He recorded 4-4=8 points in 20 games during the club’s 2007 Stanley Cup run, ranking third in the NHL in average time-on-ice (30:33 TOI). He has two of the three multi-goal games by a defenseman in club playoff history.

"I'm really excited to be here another three years," Beauchemin said. "We have a great group of guys and good young players. We're going to have a good team for awhile. It's just a matter of us keeping playing the way we've been playing lately.

"People don't know this, but it is a lot of stress on the players and their families to not know what's going to happen in the future. When you get those extensions, it just feels great. Everyone is a lot more relaxed at home and we can move on and think about the future."

A native of Sorel, Quebec, Beauchemin has appeared in 45 games with Anaheim this season, scoring 6-12=18 points with a +1 rating and 18 PIM. He is currently on pace for a 33-point season, which would mark his highest point total since scoring 36 in 2005-06 with Anaheim and Columbus. Among NHL leaders, Beauchemin ranks eighth in average TOI (25:44) and second in shorthanded TOI per game (4:39). He also leads Anaheim defensemen in goals and co-leads in scoring. On Jan. 18 vs. Phoenix, Beauchemin tied his career high in goals and points (2-1=3) in a 6-2 win, giving the blueliner 2-5=7 points in the last six games with a +10 rating over the last seven contests.

"He’s playing great," Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau said. "From the first day I got here. He’s a great character guy, can log a lot of minutes, can play different roles for you at any time, big heart. What team can’t use a player like that? To lock him in for the time that Bob [Murray] did, I thought he did a great job. It’s good for Beauch as well."

Selected by Montreal in the third round (75th overall) of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, Beauchemin has scored 37-114=151 points with 274 PIM in 454 games with Anaheim, Toronto, Columbus and Montreal. He was originally acquired by Anaheim from Columbus with Tyler Wright in exchange for Sergei Fedorov and a fifth-round selection in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft on Nov. 15, 2005. After his original stint in Anaheim, Beauchemin signed a three-year contract with Toronto as a free agent on July 6, 2009 before being reacquired by the Ducks in exchange for Joffrey Lupul and Jake Gardiner on Feb. 9, 2011. He finished fifth in the NHL with 182 blocked shots in 2010-11 and fourth in total minutes played (2093:23) in 2007-08, averaging 25+ minutes in both that season (25:31) and in 2006-07 (25:28).