The Predators announced this afternoon that they’ve signed center Fedor Svechkov to a two-year extension worth $2.5MM, yielding an average annual value of $1.25MM. He was set to be a restricted free agent this summer without arbitration rights.
Svechkov, 23 next month, is in his second NHL season after being drafted 19th overall in 2021. Since making his debut for the club in November 2024, he’s been a serviceable fourth-line piece but not much more. He’s put up an 11-19–30 scoring line in 110 career games with a -23 rating. Touted as a two-way center, he’s made progress in that department this year with a 51.1 CF% and 50.7 xGF% at 5-on-5, but his limited offensive utility thus far has kept him from climbing above 11 to 13 minutes of ice time per game.
This year, he’s shooting at just 5% and has three goals and 13 points through 58 games. He’s struggled on faceoffs, although his 42.9% win rate is up from his untenable 36.7% mark as a rookie. Given that he hasn’t excelled in any particular area outside of his possession impacts this year, he’s been in and out of the lineup. The Preds took advantage of his continued waiver-exempt status to assign him to AHL Milwaukee in late January, where he had five goals and eight points in just 10 games before being added back to the roster in early March.
Nashville’s trades sending Michael McCarron and Cole Smith out of town at the trade deadline have provided more security in the lineup for Svechkov in the last couple of weeks. He’s still only averaging 11:06 per game since the deadline as the Preds’ fourth-line center between fellow developing first-rounders Reid Schaefer and Joakim Kemell, but has a 1-2–3 scoring line and 14 shot attempts in eight games in that span. His new deal, which makes him an RFA in 2028, should lock him into Nashville’s #4C slot again next season.