July 7: The two sides met again this morning, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic, who suggests that the stalemate could end if the Predators were willing to go to $8.5MM per season.
July 6: Filip Forsberg is one of the best potential free agents available in what’s a highly saturated market of star forwards this offseason. He may not hit the open market after all, though, as Nashville Predators general manager David Poile confirmed today that the two sides are getting closer on a deal, calling it the team’s “number one goal” to sign him.
Poile also informed reporters that Forsberg desires a no-movement clause in his contract. That’s likely a big sticking point of the deal, as Poile is notoriously stingy with handing out any form of trade protection. Only one Nashville player, captain Roman Josi, has a no-movement clause.
If Forsberg is off the market, all focus will be on Johnny Gaudreau for teams looking to add an All-Star-caliber winger to their lineup. While Calgary is pushing hard to reach an extension with the winger before July 13, it doesn’t seem nearly as close to being done as Forsberg’s deal is.
Forsberg is Nashville’s all-time leader in goals with 202. Multiple reports over the past few weeks have suggested the deal is likely to fall in the $8MM range, a fair value for the three-time 30-goal scorer who’s now consistently floating around a point per game. After signing him and acquiring Ryan McDonagh from Tampa Bay, the team would still have roughly $10MM in cap space to work with and no other big contracts to re-sign, making them a dark horse candidate to be active in free agency if Poile so chooses.
If I’m a preds fan I’m feeling pretty decent right now. Still need a little more fire power, but with 10 mil, it’s affordable.
If Nashville was smart they would target JT Miller
Fabbro and the rights to Kunin…..what else would it take?
All time team leader with 202 goals. A testament to Poile’s failure as a GM.
Trenin will take about 2 to 2 1/2M out of that 10M, but that leaves a good 6M to go after a good winger in free agency. Whether Poile cares about offense enough to do that remains to be seen.
@Gbear – That’s Filip F. Forsberg knocking at your door. He snuck in another 18 goals while you were distracted by GMDP’s Polaroid pointed straight at you, with full flash mode. :)
I can just hear the schpliel now from Poile about how keeping FF is better than a UFA signing. But then that logic thing kicks in and says “you’re the same team you were last season”. :/
@Gbear – Very true, and what if the unthinkable happens next year? The wildcard(s) come out of the Pacific and leaves NSH high-and-dry on the outside looking in. You know they probably won’t be better than COL, STL, or maybe MIN (depending on the Kaprizov situation). They’d have to hope for a full-on tire fire in the bottom of the division to help them back in and get help from at least one Pacific team. WPG and DAL are unknowns as to how their groups will respond to new HC voices.
Yup. And I expect Dallas to be better next season under DeBoer. Jets I’m not sure of.
I like McDonough, but if he were in the Preds lineup during the Avs series , it still would’ve been a 4 game sweep. The Avs forwards dominated the Preds forwards. That’s where the improvement is needed.
At least missing the playoffs would get them a slightly better draft position and force them look in the mirror. If I were a Preds fan I’d be much more concerned that they get the last wild card, lose in the first round, and just keep building teams that do that. Every year. Forever.
Which is pretty much what they’ve been doing. The 4 game spanking the Avs gave them should’ve been a wake up call though.
Have to laugh at these guys on SiriusXM saying that with Forsberg re-signed and the McDonough acquisition the Preds are now primed for a deep playoff run. McDonough moves the needle from bubble team to serious playoff contender?
Yeah, right.
Thank goodness kings didn’t have to pay this guy. 8.5 million for his age 28-35 season? The fiala move was a master stroke 7.8 for 25-32 and similar production.
That Fiala move is what will likely keep Forsberg in Nashville. I think he would’ve signed in LA if given the chance.
I wouldn’t want him for those years and expected decline
Sure, Forsberg two years older. Similar production? I disagree. Forsberg had one point less than Fiala this past season but scored 9 more goals in 13 fewer games. And Fiala was playing with one of the best forwards in the game.
I could go into a deeper statistical dive but I’ll leave that out. I don’t know how much you’ve watched forsberg play but he is far more skilled than Fiala.
Matt Boldy is one of the best forwards in the game? I love the kid, he’s going to be a beast in the NHL, but that’s a pretty bold statement to make.
Then again, Boldy only joined Minnesota’s lineup at the halfway point for the season. So maybe he is one of the better forwards in the league. Who knew.
Or did you mean the mighty Frederic Gaudreau? Because Freddy Hockey screams elite talent. No… wait. That’s the other Gaudreau. My bad.
Because if you meant Kaprizov. Newsflash… Fiala and Kaprizov only ever played together during Man Advantage situations. During PP, 6v5, and OT situations to be exact.
If your going to make a dumb comment, at least try and know a little bit about the player your going to disparage first before you do, and not just run your mouth off.
For the record. Fiala hasn’t had linemate help since coming to Minnesota. And has regularly played with bottom six plugs throughout his tenure in Minnesota until he finally had Boldy join him at the halfway mark this past year. But he STILL managed to have a 30 goal 70 point pace in each of the last 3 years on his own despite not having help. Finally got a top-six talent in Boldy, and SURPRISE he’s an 80+ point player. Fiala probably hits 90+ points if he has Boldy the entire year, maybe even hits the 100 point threshold if he’d had a better center than Gaudreau too.
Forsberg is a more lethal goal scorer, it’s true. But while Fiala may have a lethal shot in his own right, his bread and butter is his overwhelming playmaking ability and cross ice passes that were ineffective without someone else there to capitalize on them.
Fiala was also a top 5 possession player in the entire leage for the last 3 seasons as well. Something Forsberg was not.
They’re two very different players who play two very different style games. Forsberg has better history of production which will warrant his better contract than Fiala. But to state that Forsberg is *far more skilled than Fiala* is incorrect and a dumb take. Anyone who has watched both players would know that Forsberg is the better goal scorer but Fiala is the more *skilled* player.
Sorry bud but I have watched them both play for some time. In terms of impact it’s like splitting hairs and like the commenter above stated he until last season played with underwhelming lines something he won’t encounter with kings. For the price and age assuming forsberg gets the same years I’d rather have fiala and it’s not close. Deep dive on analytics also shows them nearly similar both on power play and in 6v6
He is not worth that…come on 8.5 mill geez