PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins today signed goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to a seven-year, $35 million dollar contract, the third long-term deal with one of their younger players in two days.

The Penguins did not immediately announce the deal, but Fleury's agent, Allan Walsh, said the team was expected to hold a news conference later in the day.

"He is extremely gratified to be part of the Penguins core going forward," Walsh told The Associated Press. "The contract shows a lot of confidence the team is placing in him and Marc is making a statement to all that Pittsburgh is where he wants to be playing."

Fleury was eligible for arbitration and a hearing was scheduled for later in the month, but the Penguins made no secret they considered that a formality as general manager Ray Shero continued to negotiate a long-term deal with the goaltender.

Fleury's signing came a day after the Penguins signed two other players to long term deals. Center Evgeni Malkin signed for an average of $8.7 million over five years and defenseman Brooks Orpik signed a six-year, $22.5 million deal.

Fleury, the No. 1 overall draft pick for the Penguins in 2003, helped the team to the Eastern Conference championship before a six-game loss to Detroit in the Stanley Cup finals.

Fleury's strong play down the stretch capped a season that saw him start slowly then miss three months due to a high-ankle sprain. His regular-season record was just 19-10-2.

In the playoffs he was 14-6 with a 1.97 goals-against average, a .933 save percentage and three shutouts.

After struggling early in his career, Fleury came into his own in 2006-07, when he won 40 games in 67 appearances, the first Penguins goalie to win more than 40 since Tom Barrasso did it in 1992-93.

The Penguins also announced Thursday that they signed forward Ruslan Fedotenko to a one-year contract.

Fedotenko scored 33 points (16 goals, 17 assists) in 67 games with the New York Islanders last season.