Jets sign defenceman Zach Bogosian to seven-year contract worth $36 million

Winnipeg Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec blocks a shot as Jets defenceman Zach Bogosian, left, and Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog, of Sweden, look for the rebound in the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2011, in Denver. (AP Photo/Chris Schneider)

WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets have signed defenceman Zach Bogosian to a seven-year, $36-million contract.

Bogosian was the Jets' final restricted free agent who needed a new deal. He'll count just over $5.14 million against the salary cap.

"I made it clear since obviously my first time being in Winnipeg it was obviously a place that I wanted to be for a long time," Bogosian said on a conference call Monday. "It was definitely a no-brainer for me to want to stay there for a long time."

The 23-year-old has 34 goals and 69 assists in 297 games, all with the same franchise, beginning with its days as the Atlanta Thrashers.

"I'm just real happy that Winnipeg believed in me and kind of gave me another chance to kind of prove myself, he said. "I didn't exactly have the best start of my career in Atlanta, and obviously moving up to Winnipeg gave me a new chance to play in a hockey market and play in a hockey town that really I enjoyed playing in front of."

Bogosian was invited to U.S. Olympic orientation camp that will take place next month.

Last week the Jets signed right-winger Blake Wheeler to a six-year, $33.6-million contract. They also gave restricted-free-agent centre Bryan Little a five-year, $23.5-million deal.

Bogosian wasn't sure why he was last in line for a new contract but didn't care about the timing as long as it got done.

"I guess it probably just worked out that way," he said. "I didn't really think too much into it. I think (general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff) and the whole group there did a great job signing all of us and doing other things, too, to make our team better."

At no point in the process did Bogosian worry that he wasn't going to get a long-term deal before an arbitration hearing.

"I was pretty confident it was going to get done," he said. "Obviously I don't know that much about arbitration. I've heard it's not the greatest thing to go to. I was just happy to get it done. It was very, I guess, humbling to know that Winnipeg wanted me to stay there for a long time as much as I did. It was mutual that both sides wanted to do a long-term deal from the get-go."