Veteran Blueliner Signs New Contract

Radko Gudas Contract Agreed To

Gudas has played for the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers over his 11-year NHL career. The 33-year-old scored twice and registered 17 points in 72 games this season. Gudas also handed out three assists during the Panthers push to the Stanley Cup Final. Tampa Bay selected Gudas in the third round, 66th overall of the 2010 NHL Draft. His Corsi for was 49.3 and had a relative Corsi of -7.4.

He has 33 goals and 131 assists for 164 points in 682 career games. Gudas isn’t going to fill up the scoresheet, but he was vital to Florida’s unexpected run. The Prague native was very physical and used his size to help the Panthers out on the defensive end. His career-high in goals was six in the 2016-17 season with the Flyers.

Gudas has represented his native Czech Republic a number of time on the international level. He’s played for his home country on both the junior and the senior level. The veteran was part of the 2014 Olympics squad in Sochi, Russia and was on the fourth-place team at the 2019 IIHF Worlds.

Impact of Radko Gudas Contract

The physical defender may be towards the back end of his career. However, he’s still a useful lockdown defender for a team. He can use his size to help make life difficult for opposing forwards.

Gudas was making $2.5 million last season, but proved his worth with the Panthers during the team’s playoff run. He won’t score a lot of goals, but he helps prevent a good number of them. The veteran is an experienced hand and will be an asset in the defensive group.