Top 5 bargain contracts Nashville Predators have in 2024 offseason

#5: Jeremy Lauzon, 2 years left at $2 million AAV

Let's get this list started with the NHL's all-time hits leader for a single season, Jeremy Lauzon. Originally signed on this current $2 million deal back in June 2022, and to very little fanfare.

Lauzon smashed the single season hit record for the NHL with 383 while also notching a career high 111 blocks in the biggest role he's played in his NHL career. He and Alexandre Carrier proved to be a reliable, but unexpected duo for the Predators defense.

At the time of the 2022 offseason contract deal for Lauzon, the length was called into question. A lot of time to commit to an unproven defenseman like Lauzon, but to his credit, he has realy improved his all-around game since then and outperformed his current contract.

Lauzon even flashed a little offense with 14 points and a career high 103 shots on goal. Among Predators defensemen, Lauzon was second on the team in shots on goal, only trailing Roman Josi.

With two years left, Lauzon has more time to elevate his game and eventually persuade Trotz and to sign him to another similar deal, and probably even a decent raise. For now, it's a sweet bargain for Trotz to have this hard-hitting enforcer on his roster.

#4: Gustav Nyquist, 1 year left at $3.185 million AAV

I must admit that when Nyquist was signed in free agency in the 2023 offseason, I had a hard time feeling any sort of way about it. Didn't necessarily hate it, but certainly didn't see a career year on the horizon for him.

Even more so, I didn't see Nyquist becoming a mainstay on the top line with Filip Forsberg and Ryan O'Reilly to form the most offensively productive top line in Predators history. Better even than the infamous "JoFA" line in 2017 and 2018.

Nyquist has one year left at this modest AAV of just north of $3 million per year. He can be offered in a trade if Trotz wants to go big game hunting, or he can hold onto Nyquist for one more year at this bargain deal and hope the top line can replicate what they did in 2023-24.

The Predators have just $36, 464,643 invested in their forwards, per CapFriendly. Only five teams have fewer dollars tied up into their forwards. That's 44.3 percent of their total cap hit, and on the flip side, they have the third-most dollars invested in their defensemen.

All of this to say, is Trotz about to make a dramatic shift into spending more money on the forwards and finding more offense? The Predators and the Canucks were the two worst offensive teams in the first round and they just happened to play each other. If the Predators could've had even an average offensive output, not even great, then they probably advance past the first round this year.

Now where does Nyquist fit into this. If the Predators keep him for another year, he'll remain a bargain at his current deal, but then he's a free agent and another year older in 2025. He'll be 35 before the 2024-25 regular season begins.

The Predators might be best served to look for a trade partner for the aging Nyquist and get ahead of the curve of what could be a dip in production next season. It shouldn't be a hard contract to move at such a low price.

#3: Ryan O'Reilly, 3 years left at $4.5 million AAV

You can't mention Nyquist and the success of the top line without also including the center of that line, Ryan O'Reily. Originally signed in the 2023 offseason as a free agent who chose to surprisingly leave Toronto for Nashville and join the revamped Predators.

For what O'Reilly accomplished so quickly after joining the Predators was remarkable to watch unfold early in the season. There was no trial period for O'Reilly to start making his impact. He was an instant leader and upgrade that paid dividends to Filip Forsberg's career high 94-point season.

The Predators have always chased that superstar top line center, and while O'Reilly isn't what you would call "elite", he is about as close as you can get while making less than $5 million. That's just insane value for the Predators front office, and speaks volumes to Trotz's abilities to bring high profile free agents here.

O'Reilly, just about a year younger than Nyquist, also has probably passed his prime, but you wouldn't know it by going off his first season with Nashville. He was among the best power play goal scorers in the NHL for much of the season. His 43 assists were second-highest of his 15-year NHL career.

The way O'Reilly plays the game and his high hockey IQ, I don't see him dramatically dipping in production next season. That modest $4.5 million per year will continue to be such a bargain playing alongside Forsberg. We have to wait and see if Nyquist sticks around, or if the third spot on O'Reily's top line becomes up for grabs.

#2: Colton Sissons, 2 years left at $2,857,143 AAV

One of the most random contract numbers you'll ever see is Colton Sissons making approximately $2.857 million. And this contract was originally signed as a lengthy seven-year deal in 2019. A lot of years to tie up into a player that has never made the jump as a big time offensive playmaker.

However, as this contract has wore on, it has proven to be a great bargain for the Predators. Mainly because Sissons is such a balanced and steady player. He does so many vital little things that adds up to a major impact. He wins faceoffs, he blocks shots, he can get into the physical areas, and he even saw his offense hit a spike thanks to a more offensive friendly approach by Andrew Brunette.

Sissons has been around so long that it's easy to forget he's still relatively young in hockey years. He will be 31 in November, and it's hard to say where he'll fit into the starting lineup in year 2 under Brunette.

Could Sissons also be a trade piece for Trotz if he's looking for a superstar offensive player this offseason? He definitely could be because his contract is so cheap relative to everything positive he does on the ice.

Sissons completed his 10th season in the NHL with a career high in points (35), assists (20) and tied his career high in goals with 15. He also averaged the highest ice time of 16:34 of his NHL career and his highest shots on goal total of 131.

#1: Juuse Saros, 1 year left at $5 million AAV

This isn't just the best bargain contracts on the Predators, but one of the best team-friendly deals in the entire NHL. Even in a somewhat down year for Saros in 2023-24, he still vastly outperforms the money he's making of $5 million.

Which makes it all the more critical for Trotz to figure out quickly this offseason what he is going to do with the franchise goalie. Sign him to a sizeable pay raise and likely long-term, or make a blockbuster trade and hopefully bring in a couple impact forwards.

Both decisions brings their own set of pros and cons. His $5 million cap hit for 2024-25 makes him so valuable to possible trade partners who are goalie starved. A team that feels they're on the cusp of being a legit contender for the Stanley Cup, but need that goalie as the final piece.

When you look a the highest-paid goalies for 2024-25, Carey Price has the highest cap hit at $10.5 million. Saros is all the way down at No.16 and is the first goalie of the top-16 that doesn't have some sort of No Trade Clause or No Move Clause.

It is really unfortunate that the Predators weren't able to bank on Saros making such little money and finding more offensive support around him in these last three seasons that Saros has been the full-time starter following Pekka Rinne.

Now time is quickly running out and Saros will likely command top-5 goalie money in the range of $7 million-plus, unless Saros really is committed to Nashville long-term and choses less per-year money for more years.

At least for one more season with the Predators, if he's not traded, Saros will continue to be one of the best bargain contracts in the entire NHL. The 2025 trade deadline will be the last chance the Predators have to trade him before he hits unrestricted free agency next offseason.