SAN JOSE, Calif., May 23 (UPI) -- The San Jose Sharks have exercised their contract option on center Mike Ricci, the team's fourth-leading scorer this past season.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
Ricci, 32, recorded 11 goals and 23 assists in 75 games as an alternate captain for the Sharks, who failed to make the playoffs.
"Everybody knows about Mike Ricci as a player and a person and what he brings to the table,'' General Manager Doug Wilson told the San Jose Mercury News.
The paper said Ricci will make about $3 million next season, an $800,000 pay increase.
Acquired by San Jose in the second round of the 1998 entry draft, Ricci has registered 226 goals and 336 assists in 943 career games for Philadelphia, Quebec, Colorado, and the Sharks.
In another move, the Sharks signed defenseman Doug Murray, their eighth-round draft pick in 1999.
Murray, 23, completed a standout career at Cornell last month. He ranked fifth on the team in scoring with 25 points and helped lead the Big Red to the Frozen Four.
Last season, Murray was named the Ivy League Player of the Year, and was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
