Source: Lundqvist signs extension

— -- The New York Rangers have signed star goalie Henrik Lundqvist to a seven-year, $59.5 million contract extension, a source confirmed to ESPN.com on Wednesday.

The deal is worth an average of $8.5 million per season. It will make Lundqvist, 31, the highest-paid goaltender in the NHL, ahead of Boston's Tuukka Rask and Nashville's Pekka Rinne, who have cap hits of $7 million next season.

The 2011-12 Vezina Trophy winner and the team's undisputed MVP in recent seasons was in the last year of a six-year, $41.25 million contract.

Lundqvist, who has been benched the past two games in favor of Cam Talbot, is 8-11 this season with a 2.51 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage.