Senators sign D Kuba to extension

Mar 4, 2009 - 3:52 PM OTTAWA (Ticker) -- The Ottawa Senators locked up their top defenseman Wednesday, signing Filip Kuba to a three-year contract extension.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but TSN of Canada reported the deal is worth $3.7 million per season.

Kuba has been the Senators' most productive defenseman this season with two goals, 27 assists and a team-leading plus-eight rating in 54 games.

The Senators acquired Kuba from the Tampa Bay Lightning this offseason along with Alexandre Picard and a first-round draft pick in exchange for defenseman Andrej Meszaros.

Kuba was schedule to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and, with the Senators struggling at 12th in the Eastern Conference, there was speculation that he might be traded ahead of Wednesday's deadline.

The 6-4, 226-pound Czech has 236 points and 263 penalty minutes over 585 career NHL games.