Panthers sign Pysyk to 3-year deal

The Florida Panthers have secured a key penalty killer for the foreseeable future.

Mark Pysyk agreed to a three-year contract with the club Thursday, and the deal carries an annual cap hit of about $2.73 million, according to CapFriendly.

The 25-year-old defenseman was a restricted free agent.

He led all Panthers in shorthanded ice time and played all 82 games this past season, chipping in 17 points.

Florida opted to protect Pysyk and fellow blue-liner Alex Petrovic over 30-goal scorer Jonathan Marchessault in the expansion draft, and the forward was subsequently selected by the Vegas Golden Knights.