The Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club announced today that it has signed 22-year-old center Paul Stastny to a five-year contract extension beginning with the 2009-2010 season.

"Paul has clearly established himself as one of the bright young stars emerging in our game today," said Avalanche Executive Vice President & General Manager Francois Giguere. "At a young age, he’s demonstrated tremendous skill, vision and composure on the ice and is recognized as one of the most complete players in our league.

"We’re pleased that Paul will remain with the Colorado Avalanche franchise long-term. This is another sign of our ownership’s commitment to winning."

>> team release

Adrian Dater from the Denver Post will likely have the terms any time now.

Stastny is a phenomenal player, someone who, I think, doesn't get quite the credit he deserves as he's played for an Avalanche team that hasn't been nearly as high profile the past two years as previously. He's posted a point a game throughout his 164-game career to this point, and at 22, leads the team in scoring and is second in ice time (21:22) to only John-Michael Liles.

I imagine this is a pretty hefty extension, but Stastny's shown to be a top-line player so far.

UPDATE Nick Kypreos said on Sportsnet that the deal is $6.6-million per season, which is about what you'd expect. Anze Kopitar signed for $6.8-million per on a longer term with the Kings, but Stastny's the stronger player at this point.