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Former UND All-American goalie Aaron Dell signed a two-year extension with the San Jose Sharks, the team announced Wednesday.
The extension covers the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons. Multiple reports have the deal worth $3.8 million with a $1.9 million annual salary-cap hit.
Dell was slated to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
"It's great to have some security for the next couple of years," Dell said, per the San Jose Mercury News. "It's exciting. It's my first one-way contract in the NHL."
In 25 games this season (20 starts), Dell is 14-5-3 with a 2.71 goals-against average and a .912 save percentage. For his career, the 28-year-old is 25-11-4 with a 2.39 GAA and a .920 save percentage.
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"Aaron has met every challenge he has faced in his career head-on and our team is a confident group when he's in the net," general manager Doug Wilson said in a statement. "He's a very popular guy in the dressing room and we feel that Aaron and Martin (Jones) give us one of the top goaltending tandems in the League."
Jones is under contract through the 2023-24 season, but Dell still feels he could be a No. 1 goalie down the road. He said loyalty was a factor in his signing the extension with the Sharks.
"It's still early in my career. I need to get some more experience and go from there," Dell said. "I wasn't really thinking about that stuff too much. I was just taking it day by day, seeing what happens. I like it here. It's a great group of guys. I like coming to the rink every day. I just take things as they come in general."
