Nashville Predators Best Contracts (2005-2020)

The following is a condensed preview of the Nashville Predators chapter of my new book, Hunting Bargains in a Salary Cap World. If you purchase the book, you will receive a much more in-depth analysis of all these contracts, including year-by-year statistics, a customized “basket of comparables”, and memorable quotes from players, GMs, and coaches. Below is just a tiny sample of what’s in the book, with a few sentences clipped from the summaries. 

Entry level contracts not included.

Nashville Predators

 

The Nashville Predators have been a consistently good team throughout the salary cap era, making the playoffs 12 times in the last 15 years, helping GM David Poile keep his job for that entire span. Poile has displayed a remarkable talent for roping young players into long-term deals at cheap prices right before they’re about to break out. The Preds may not have delivered any championships to Nashville, advancing to the finals in 2017, but they provided enough victories to make Poile the winningest General Manager in NHL history.

 

 

The ascent happened fast. Roman Josi's points per game total almost doubled from the last year of his entry level to the 2nd year of this contract. By year two he scored 55 PTS and averaged 26.5 minutes of ice time. One person who certainly failed to forecast that future apex was Josi’s agent, who sold his client short on a 7-year term that would not expire until Roman was 30-years-old.

The ink on the paper hadn’t even dried before Ekholm started pushing his ceiling higher. It doesn’t state in the press release whether or not Ekholm’s agent tried to convince his client to take a 1-year deal and test free agency. Mattias might have left as much as $20M in career earnings on the table, but he is not the least bit concerned.

 

 

Poile made a slick move getting Pekka Rinne on this 2-year bridge, both seasons earning Vezina trophy nominations. Rinne posted a .926 SV% and 51 goals saved above average, plus 22 playoff games with a .917 SV%. Rinne became one of the league’s best goalies. At the end of this contract Rinne would become the highest paid goaltender in the NHL.

 

 

Shea didn’t take any discount, getting paid like a 40-point player despite injury costing him a chunk of his 2008 season before he’d signed this extension. The investment still proved to be a bargain, as Shea scored at a 49-point pace over the span of the treaty. In 241 GP he scored 55 goals, 144 PTS with 727 shots. He was nominated for the Norris trophy in year three.

 

 

It took some time to get this treaty ratified, as Ryan Ellis went unsigned into training camp. He failed to foresee the growth in his immediate future, and even sold a year unrestricted free agency. Ryan did battle some injuries, but scored at a 42-point pace per 82 games for which he was paid 31 cents on the dollar.

 

 

Poile paid for a 30-point, 20-minute defenseman, and received a 44-point, 25-minute defenseman. Suter quickly became an “all situations” workhorse, but unlike Ekholm years later, Suter did not require a tutorial on how to maximize career earnings. Ryan had $98M waiting for him in Minnesota.

 

 

The Swedish winger set a new career high of 53 PTS in year one, but found himself moving to Pittsburgh in the James Neal trade in the summer of 2014. How many non-entry level contracts signed by David Poile and the Nashville Predators since 2005 have won the Stanley Cup? Exactly one, and he won 2 in Nashville Pittsburgh.

 

 

After the first 2 years, this was looking like it might belong on the Predators worst contracts list, but the big guy bounced back once he regained his health in year three and got better as he aged into his mid 30s. Pekka was 35-years-old when he collected his first Vezina trophy as the league’s best goaltender, the year after he helped carry them to the 2017 Stanley Cup final with a .930 playoff SV%.

 

 

Ellis was having a magical first season on pace to top the 60-point plateau in 2020 before a concussion cost him over 6 weeks (courtesy of a Corey Perry elbow at the Winter Classic). There is plenty of time remaining on this deal and it could potentially become a liability if injury issues persist, but he appeared to be breaking through to a new level of production when the latest setback occurred.

 

 

Over the first 4 years of this deal, Forsberg scored at a rate of 65 PTS per 82 GP, and was limited by injury issues in years three and four. He added another 34 PTS in 41 playoff games. He has not yet elevated himself into much more than 60-point player, but that’s still a commodity that doesn’t grow on trees. This doesn’t need to be a bargain to be totally worthwhile.

 

 

After he was leapfrogged on the power play depth chart, Danny dropped down to 20 PTS in year one. Over the 4 years, the Hammer played 321 games, scoring 97 PTS (25 PTS per 82 GP), averaging 22 min per game of ice time, also becoming a crucial penalty killer. He logged a ton of ice time for a cheap price and the term allowed him to walk the fast-track to unrestricted free agency. He left for greener pastures in Vancouver.

 

 

Year one was a success, producing another 60-point season. Year two was off to a great start before hitting a snag when Arvidsson crashed hard into the boards, suffering an “upper body injury” that cost him several weeks of play. The third year was also cut short, but this time by a lower body injury. Unlike the previous season, Viktor did not perform well per 82 GP, pacing for 40 PTS.

 

 

Rich would score 9 PTS in 27 GP for the Preds in year one before they attempted to send him to the minors but he did not clear waivers, getting scooped up by the Atlanta Thrashers Winnipeg Jets. Once he moved to Georgia Manitoba, Peverley caught fire, scoring 35 PTS in 39 GP (thanks in part to playing with Ilya Kovalchuk). By year two, the center was playing almost 19 minutes per game, scoring a career high 55 PTS.

 

 

The Czech defenseman saw his scoring dip in year one, but rebounded in year two with 43 PTS, remaining close to that number for the remaining term. The rise of Weber, Suter, and Hamhius made Zidlicky a bit redundant in Nashville, so Poile traded him to the Minnesota Wild after year two for Ryan Jones and a 2nd round draft pick.

 

 

Jarnkrok isn’t flashy and will never hit a high point total, but he’s still a very effective “middle 6” role player on a small price tag. Through the first 4 years, the Swede has produced like a $3.3M player, averaging 15.7 minutes per game of ice time, scoring 35 PTS per 82 GP.