Nashville Predators Avoid Disaster, Re-Sign Filip Forsberg to Eight Years

All offseason long, the big question has been whether or not the Nashville Predators would re-sign Filip Forsberg, and it has been one dramatic situation with lots of criticism, especially among the fans and media.

Everyone can now breathe a huge sigh of relief, as Forsberg is officially back in the fold.

It was announced just this morning that the two sides have come to an agreement on an eight-year contract worth $8.5M per year, for a total of $68M.

The deal is expected to include a no-movement or no-trade clause, but those details have yet to be confirmed.

A full no-movement clause would not be ideal from the Predators’ side of things, but by no means could they have not signed this deal if it came down to that.

Forsberg was already helping the team out by not demanding anywhere what he would have gotten on the open market, and you as a team do not re-sign a player like him with intentions to trade him anytime soon, so it is worth it.

It goes without saying that if he would have walked on Wednesday, it would have been the most costly mistake of David Poile’s career as GM of the Predators. But it really felt as though both parties wanted to get this deal figured out the whole time, and they have finally made it happen.

Nashville Predators stick to offseason agenda by re-signing Forsberg

The Predators found something special last season with the line of Forsberg, Mikael Granlund, and Matt Duchene. Those two especially have to be happy, as they can continue to build on the chemistry they had last year and be one strong element of a potent top six that the Predators are looking to build this offseason.

With still over $9.5M of remaining cap space, they can go after another lethal forward to help the second line and in particular, Ryan Johansen, who had little to no help last year.

They have options, and rounding out a legit top six is something that is not far out of reach, if Poile makes the right moves from here on out.

With this signing, the Nashville Predators continue to stick to their objective this offseason, which is building a team that can compete now and in the future.

Ryan McDonagh said in his introductory press conference with the team that he sees them as one with a great culture and one that can compete for a Cup, and with Forsberg now opting to come back, they are sending a message that they are a desirable destination for players to come to.

Poile, for all of the backlash he has gotten recently, has really played his cards well this offseason. He was able to bring in McDonagh for virtually nothing, parted ways with Luke Kunin and actually got some nice value for him, and has now re-signed Forsberg.

There were mixed reactions on Jeremy Lauzon‘s extension, but even then it was understandable and honestly sensible why Poile made that deal.

The Predators came into this offseason needing to make significant moves in order to get themselves out of their perpetual mediocrity, and they knew it. Today’s news gets them one step closer to building a team that can actually do some damage come playoff time.