Rutherford: Hornqvist extension could be done Tuesday taken in Cranberry Township, Pa. (Penguins)

Patric Hornqvist skates Monday at practice. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Patric Hornqvist isn't easy to move, as NHL goaltenders have known for years.

Now, he won't be moving from Pittsburgh, either.

The Penguins expect to have their heart-and-soul right winger, who could have become an unrestricted free agent this summer, signed to a multiyear extension -- believed to be for five years, $26.5 million -- as early as Tuesday, Jim Rutherford told reporters at the Lemieux Sports Complex after the NHL's trade deadline passed.

Rutherford hasn't made a habit of negotiating, much less completing, contracts during the season, but he expressed special praise for Hornqvist in that regard.

"This shows what the organization and I think of Patric to get it done sooner rather than later," he said. "I felt that it was important that he knows and we know that he's going to be here going forward."

The term of the new contract works out to an average annual value of $5.3 million, markedly lower than what many in the industry had expected Hornqvist could earn on the open market. As examples of comparable players, T.J. Oshie got an eight-year, $46 million contact from Washington ($5.75 AAV) while Milan Lucic got a seven-year, $42 million ($6 million AAV) contract in Edmonton.

Hornqvist, 31, would be signed through 2022-23, his age-36 season.

There had been speculation that the Penguins would not be able to afford Hornqvist after Friday's trade for Derick Brassard, even though the Golden Knights will pay 40 percent of Brassard's $5 million salary next season. Rutherford had seemed especially sensitive about that of late, and this approach might have been made to dispel that.

In 51 games this season, Hornqvist has 17 goals and 15 assists for 32 points. His 10 power-play goals are second to only Evgeni Malkin. He returned this past weekend from a lower-body injury that sidelined him the previous eight games and immediately slotted right back into all his usual roles.

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