Artem Anisimov, Blackhawks reach five-year, $22.75M extension

The Blackhawks and forward Artem Anisimov agreed to a five-year extension that will keep him in Chicago through the 2020-21 season, the team announced Wednesday.

The total value of the extension is $22.75 million, sources told ESPN.

The Blackhawks acquired Anisimov, 27, from the Columbus Blue Jackets as part of a seven-player tradeTuesday.

Anisimov has 86 goals and 106 assists in 412 career regular-season games over seven NHL seasons. He had seven goals and 20 assists in 52 games for the Blue Jackets last season.

"He's a player that we have been trying to acquire for quite some time," general manager Stan Bowman said Tuesday. "I've talked a long time about our desire to find a big centerman. There's very few of them in the NHL. You just look around the 30 teams, and to be able to get a guy in the prime of his career, 6-foot-4, who can do a little bit of everything, it's someone we've been chasing for a long time, and we were finally able to acquire him.

"I think he fits in very nicely to our team. He's able to play offensively, as well as a penalty-killing role. He's done a little bit of everything in his career. And I think for our needs, to know that we've got [Jonathan] Toews and Anisimov for years to come, that was a very big part of this."

Anisimov has one year remaining on his current contract. He signed a three-year, $9.85 million contract with the Blue Jackets in June 2013.