Breaking: Late bloomer earns big new $13 million dollar contract.

It's never too late to develop into a bonafied and valuable National Hockey League player.

On Monday the Ottawa Senators officially announced that they had reached terms on a new four-year deal with veteran forward Zack Smith, this during the best form of Smith's career at 29-years-old.

From the Senators announcement:

Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion announced today that the club has signed forward Zack Smith to a four-year contract extension through the 2020-21 NHL season. The contract has an annual average value (AAV) of $3.25 million ($3.25 million each of the four seasons).

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Smith put up 25 goals in the 2015-2016 season, by far the most of his NHL career, and is once again on pace for a similarly productive season. There's little doubt that the Senators made the move to sign him now at this price rather than wait and risk that he continues to drive up his value.