"We wanted to stay here," Raanta said. "Everybody in this organization sees that we have been making progress and we are going the right way right now. I wanted to be a part of that. I see a bright future for us. Three years works best for both ways right now. When we started to get closer with the numbers, it started to look better all the time. Both parties wanted to get the deal done."
Acquired in a trade with the New York Rangers with center Derek Stepan for defenseman Tony DeAngelo and the No. 7 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft (center Lias Andersson) on June 23, Raanta is 21-16-6 this season in 46 games; his wins and games played are personal NHL highs. He missed 22 games because of injury.
"We brought him in expecting him to be a No. 1 goalie and I think his body or work proves that he has those capabilities," Arizona general manager John Chayka said. "We always let him know that our plan was to do a deal with him and get him in Arizona long term. I think he appreciated the fact that we went out and got him and made him a No. 1."
Raanta is tied for second in the NHL in save percentage (.930) and third in goals-against average (2.24) among goaltenders with at least 20 games this season. He has won six straight starts and is 9-1-0 in his past 10 games, allowing two or fewer goals in nine of them.
"It was a growing process for me, playing lots, being the No. 1 guy," Raanta said. "It's a big mental adjustment from being a backup to start playing more. I kind of found a good balance between when I was playing and when I had time to practice. I felt like I was doing lots of right things in the game, but I think the biggest thing was doing the right things in practice when you have the practice time."
The Coyotes on Feb. 22 signed goalie Darcy Kuemper to a two-year contract after acquiring him in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings.
Chayka was asked if Raanta's second half contributed to the contract.
"You don't want to have a recency bias and just look at a certain segment," Chayka said. "What we looked at is a body of work whenever he's been in the net, whether it's as a backup, he's been successful at stopping pucks at the NHL level and that's been every year. He's been a good goalie in the NHL. For us, there was some buy-in from the sense of players believe in him and play well in front of him and we were able to close out games and win games. He kind of earned their trust and respect from the coaching staff to the players. That means something for sure."
The Coyotes (29-40-12), who end the season against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday (9 p.m. ET; FS-A Plus, PRIME, NHL.TV) have been eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention. They are 16-8-2 since Feb. 12.
"It's a big thing to get it done before the season is over and going back home, you don't need to think about that anymore," Raanta said. "You can start looking forward and you can plan what you want to do in the summer."
NHL.com correspondent Craig Morgan contributed to this report.
