The Washington Capitals have re-signed defenseman Taylor Chorney to a one-way, two-year contract extension with an average annual value of $800,000, the team announced Friday. Chorney will make $775,000 next season and $825,000 in 2017-18.
Chorney was an under-the-radar offseason signing, getting the first one-way contract of his career in the one-year, $700,000 deal. When injuries hit the defense, most notably with Brooks Orpik missing 40 games because of a lower-body bone injury, Chorney proved he was more than capable at playing every day at an NHL level.
Locking up Chorney for two more seasons means that if Washington were to make a move at the trade deadline for a depth defenseman, it would most likely be someone that’s an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, a rental.