COLUMBUS (AP) — Brandon Dubinsky, the player seen as the face of the rising Columbus Blue Jackets, signed a six-year contract extension worth $35.1 million that will keep him with the club through the 2020-21 season.

Dubinsky was entering the last year of a contract with a $4.2-million cap hit. The new deal pays him $5.85 million per season.

He said it was a meeting of minds and not just on the contract terms.

“It’s the commitment to winning,” the 28-year-old center said at a news conference on Friday after the deal was announced. “(Management) has said they want to win here. I want to win. Our interests were aligned.”

Dubinsky was acquired two years ago in the blockbuster deal with the New York Rangers for Rick Nash that also brought center Artem Anisimov, defenseman Tim Erixon and a first-round draft pick to the Blue Jackets. He has scored 18 goals with 52 assists and a +7 plus/minus rating in 105 games the past two seasons, including 16 goals and a career-high 34 assists a year ago while leading the franchise into the postseason for only the second time.