As the Detroit Red Wings face the annual possibility that this could be their last season with captain Nicklas Lidstrom on the roster, they have now ensured that they will keep their second-most important defensemen in Motown. It was announced on Halloween that Detroit signed defenseman Niklas Kronwall to a seven-year, $33.25M contract extension. Kronwall will reportedly make a base salary of $4.5M with a $1.25M signing bonus next season; he will then make $6M in each of the next three seasons followed by years of $5.5M, $3.5M and $1.75M. The 30-year-old Swede will have an annual cap hit of $4.75M, up from the $3M cap hit his current contract carries. The 29th overall pick in 2000, Kronwall is regarded as one of the better defensive-zone players and hardest hitters in the entire NHL. He played two part-seasons with Detroit (2003-04, 2005-06) before sticking for good in 2006-07; since then he has averaged 33 points and 68 games per season. He isn’t the most gifted offensively, but he is more than an able puck mover from the back end. The downside to his ferocious hitting is the toll it takes on his body; Kronwall has only managed to eclipse 70 games played in two of his five full seasons. When he is able to play a full season, the results follow (51 points in 80 games in 2008-09; 11 goals in 77 games last season). The upside is he is a “young” 30-year-old, in the sense that he didn’t earn a full-time NHL role until he was 25-years-old, and thus doesn’t have the same mileage on his legs that many others his age do. Detroit did well to lock up such a key component for cheaper than market value. Sometimes the league overvalues offensive defensemen and undervalues defensive-first guys (for instance, not many talk about the fact that Vancouver probably would have won the Stanley Cup if not for Dan Hamhuis’ injury, instead they focus on Roberto Luongo’s failings). Coming into this season Kronwall had a +53 rating for his career. Kronwall’s $4.75M cap hit will be less than recent deals signed by Dustin Byfuglien ($5.2M), James Wisniewski ($5.5M), Michal Rozsival ($5) and Sergei Gonchar ($5.5M), or the oft-injured Andrei Markov ($5.75M) to name a few. In fact his deal fits nicely alongside Kevin Bieksa’s five-year deal worth $4.6M annually. All-in-all, Kronwall is slated to become just the 23rd-highest paid defenseman next season. Considering it likely that Detroit won’t have Lidstrom’s $6M on the books next season, they can easily afford the $1.75M raise that Kronwall will earn; and in turn, the added responsibility will have Kronwall earning every bit of his new deal. Grade for Detroit: A- Kronwall has long-stated his desire to stay in Detroit, and just as many others that grow up in the organization have done he commits to them by taking a bit of a hometown discount compared to what would be available on the open market. Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg and Johan Franzen are all making less than they would if they entered free agency. Kronwall was able to secure his own peace of mind in return, by having a full no-trade clause added through 2016-17, and a limited NTC in the final two seasons (he would submit a 10-team list that he would accept trades to). But since Detroit is one of, if not the best run organization in the NHL it would be hard to see a time come when they are not playoff contenders. By all accounts, Detroit treats its players as well as anyone in the league, and good players want to play there. Kronwall should get an opportunity to play for another Stanley Cup there, to add to the one he helped win in 2008 when he had 15 assists and a +16 rating in 22 games. With the contract out of the way early in the season, he can now focus solely on playing hockey and dishing out more jaw-dropping body checks. Grade for Kronwall: A Nick is RealGM’s NHL Feature Writer. You can reach him by email [email protected] or on twitter @NickObergan