The rugged forward has signed on for another year in Raleigh.
The Carolina Hurricanes re-signed forward Brendan Lemieux to a one-year extension Monday, March 11 following his placement on waivers earlier in the week.
"We just got it done right after I went unclaimed or maybe a little bit before," Lemieux said. "We had to wait and see what was going to happen with that, but it's good. I'm happy to be here."
Lemieux, 27, has two goals and three points in 25 games with the Canes this year primarily playing in a depth role.
But he wasn't brought in to score.
The rugged forward was brought in to be a deterrent and bring a bit of toughness to a lineup that was missing that element and Lemieux has done well to bring that.
Even though he hasn't played much, Lemieux has accepted his role on the team and has shown a lot of maturity in how he's handled it.
"I enjoy being here," Lemieux said. "I think that's first and foremost. I want to play in the playoffs and I want to play on a winning team. I love the room here. The guys are incredible and I have a coach that treats me with respect. I've said it before, I've got all the time in the world for a guy like that.
"It hasn't been easy this year. It's hard having the patience that I've had to have, but I still enjoy coming to the rink every day. There's been years where I haven't and I've played a lot more. So I'm happy to be here. I love North Carolina, so I'm happy to sign on and do it again and try to help this group win in whatever way that is."
After a slow start to his season, Lemieux has also looked more comfortable in the Hurricanes' systems and can hold his own in his minutes when he gets in.
'It's a tough role to play, no doubt, but he's come in and done what we've asked him to do," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour. "Be a good teammate, work hard and when he's been in there, he's been effective. I know he'd like to have gotten in there a little bit more, but that's just the way the year went. But I think we've shown that we like having him around."
Despite being waived before last Friday's trade deadline, the Hurricanes wanted to make sure that Lemieux knew that he was still wanted in Carolina.
"That wasn't easy," Lemieux said. "I've never been in that spot before and I didn't see it coming. Obviously I wasn't happy about it, but they knew the situation and paid it forward. They knew that I wasn't happy and that it was a tough situation to put anyone in, but they also explained to me how they need me and want me here and they showed it. So I think that's what's important."
The Canes wanted to make sure they had as much cap flexibility as possible heading into the trade deadline, and waiving Lemieux along with Antti Raanta and Tony DeAngelo was the easiest way to do that.
But as Lemieux said, the Hurricanes explained themselves and backed up their words with a $775,000 contract.
Now, Lemieux is focused on doing whatever's asked of him to help his team now and in the future.
"We have a long road ahead of us here and a lot of hard hockey ahead of us," Lemieux said. "I'm excited to help and I have faith that my game is going to be important when it counts. That's why I'm here ready to do it this year and next and hopefully more after that."
