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Nashville Predators Extend John Hynes

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May 19: Predators general manager David Poile officially announced a two-year contract extension for Hynes today.

May 18: After reaching the playoffs for the third time in as many years under John Hynes, the Nashville Predators faced some uncertainty at the Head Coach position, with John Hynes on an expiring contract that included a one-year team option. However, those concerns seem to be gone, as The Athletic’s Adam Vingan tweets that he believes the club has agreed to a multi-year extension with Hynes to keep him behind the bench in Nashville. The contract has yet to be officially confirmed, though that may be a topic of discussion when Hynes and General Manager David Poile meet the media on Thursday (link).

In three seasons under Hynes, Nashville has failed to miss the playoffs, but has also failed to win a playoff round. The team lost in the first round this year to the Colorado Avalanche and last year to the Carolina Hurricanes. The team also lost the qualifying round in the bubble in 2020 to the Arizona Coyotes. Despite the success, some had wondered if Hynes would be back with Nashville next season given the team’s failure to have playoff success in that time. Given those concerns, a multi-year extension when the team had the ability to exercise a one-year option, is all the more interesting.

Perhaps one of Hynes’ biggest strengths as a coach can be seen in his stars’ ability to elevate their game under him. There may be no better of an example of that than this year, where Filip Forsberg had a career high 84 points, 20 more than his previous career-high of 64, in just 69 games. A struggling Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen both rebounded this year, with Duchene hitting career-highs in goals, with 43 and points, with 86. Defenseman Roman Josi, already a superstar in his own right, shattered his previous career-high 65 points with 96 this year, a mark that was among the best seasons ever for a defenseman.

Turning back to Hynes’ days as the head coach of the New Jersey Devils, he saw a rebuilding New Jersey Devils team to a playoff berth in 2017-18, which featured a Hart Trophy season from Taylor Hall, who had a career-best 93 points, a mark he has not been able to repeat since. Though he has yet to win a playoff series as a head coach, Hynes has proven that he is capable of getting the most out of his star players. The Predators are also, notably, a franchise that has several high-profile, star players, three of whom (Josi, Duchene, and Johansen) are signed to long-term contracts. Another of those stars, Forsberg, Nashville is in the process of trying to sign long-term.

This story will be updated as more details emerge on the expected extension. Hynes and Poile will address the media for their end-of-season availability Thursday morning.

Nashville Predators Sign Yaroslav Askarov

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Today seems to be the day for top goalie prospects to sign their entry-level contracts. Just after the Minnesota Wild inked their own top goalie prospect, Jesper Wallstedt, to his entry-level deal, the Nashville Predators have announced that they have signed their own top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov to a three-year entry-level contract. Askarov signed an AHL tryout contract with the Predators’ affiliate Milwaukee Admirals earlier this month, indicating that his full signing with the Predators would be coming soon. Now, the move is official.

Askarov, 19, is one of the top goalie prospects in all of hockey and also one of the highest-drafted goaltenders in recent years. Askarov was the eleventh pick in the 2020 draft, the highest pick since current Maple Leafs starter Jack Campbell went eleventh to the Dallas Stars at the 2010 draft. Askarov has thus far spent his career developing in his native Russia, where he has starred in limited action at the KHL level. In nine games for SKA St. Petersburg in 2020-21, Askarov posted a .951 save percentage and a 1.21 goals-against-average, numbers that are reminiscent of Igor Shesterkin and Ilya Sorokin’s KHL dominance but at a far younger age. (Albeit with a far smaller sample size of games.) Askarov got into six KHL games this season, posting a .913 save percentage and a 1.81 goals-against-average.

With Vezina finalist Juuse Saros already entrenched as Nashville’s number-one goaltender and under contract for at least the next three seasons, Askarov will have plenty of time to acclimate himself to goaltending in North America and should be afforded ample opportunity to develop at his own pace. Too many prospects have had their development tracks derailed by teams rushing them to the NHL out of necessity, due to that team needing the talent the prospect brings, however raw it may be at the time. Thankfully for the Predators, though, with Saros in net, it’s unlikely that will be an issue for Askarov. Instead, Predators fans can get excited about the next few years of Milwaukee Admirals hockey featuring one of the most promising young goaltenders in the sport.

Mikael Granlund Joins Finland At World Championships

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The Finnish contingent at the 2022 IIHF World Championships just got notably stronger. The IIHF announced today that Finland added Nashville Predators forward Mikael Granlund to their roster.

The news comes after Granlund’s Predators were swept out of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Colorado Avalanche. Granlund had three assists in four playoff games, capping off what was a great 2021-22 campaign for him with 64 points in 80 regular-season games.

It’s Granlund’s first time representing Finland at this tournament since 2018 when he was a member of the Minnesota Wild. That year, he served as Finland’s captain, potting two goals and seven assists in eight games as the team lost in the quarterfinals.

This time around, he’ll serve as an alternate captain alongside former NHL defenseman Sami Vatanen and national team veteran Marko Anttila. They sit behind captain Valtteri Filppula as the NHL veteran attempts to join the Triple Gold club with a gold medal in this tournament. Finland got off to a 1-0 start yesterday, defeating Norway 5-0 in their opening game of the Worlds.

2022 Ted Lindsay Award Finalists Announced

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This week, the NHL has started to release the finalists for all the major regular season awards. After the Hart Trophy came out yesterday, the Ted Lindsay Award, given to “the most outstanding player in the NHL” as voted on by members of the NHLPA, is up.

The finalists this year are Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators, Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.

While the Lindsay very often mirrors the Hart, the notable difference is that the finalists are peer-selected. McDavid has already won the trophy three times, even taking it home in 2018 when he somehow finished fifth in Hart voting, despite leading the league in scoring. There’s no doubting his place among his fellow players, widely considered the best player in the world at the moment. After setting new career highs with 44 goals and 123 points, there’s certainly reason to believe they’ve put him on top of the mountain once again.

Matthews has more than a fighting chance though, after becoming just the third player in the salary cap era to score 60 goals in a single season. The Maple Leafs forward is the no-doubt best at putting the puck in the back of the net, and reached a new high with 106 points in just 73 games. Perhaps the front-runner for the Hart this season, it will be interesting to see if the players feel the same about the Toronto sniper.

Josi, meanwhile, is the only one of the three that didn’t end as a finalist for the Hart, as Igor Shesterkin took the third spot yesterday. It shows just how outstanding his season was and how much respect his peers have for the historic 96-point campaign he put together. That’s more than just a good year–it puts Josi among a list of the best offensive defensemen to ever play the game. Whether that was enough to draw the votes to pass the two big centers won’t be revealed until later on but it is still an impressive feat to get named a finalist in a year with so many incredible offensive performances.

Latest On Filip Forsberg

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It was another disappointing exit for Filip Forsberg and the Nashville Predators, losing in the first round for the fourth season in a row. The 27-year-old is now facing a career-defining decision as his offseason begins and free agency approaches. Forsberg will be an unrestricted free agent in July after spending his entire NHL career to this point in a Predators jersey, and didn’t give up much when he spoke to reporters yesterday about the situation:

I’ve said that since day one, the goal is to come back here. And the business side is completely different than the on-ice side, as you guys are aware of, and just kind of have to wait and see and play it out. There has been obviously some progression throughout the season from where we started in September, and me and my agent and David and Brian and the management. There’s going to be an ongoing conversation in the process, and we’ll just have to see where we end up.

You couldn’t script a better regular season to be negotiating on the back of, as Forsberg set career highs with 42 goals and 84 points, all in just 69 games. With so much of his production coming at even-strength (32 goals), there’s likely no limit to the number of teams that could insert him into a lineup and receive a huge offensive boost. With the Predators out, the countdown is on until Forsberg and his representatives get a chance to talk with the rest of the league.

After a decade in Nashville, Forsberg has always maintained that his desire is to stay with the organization that traded for him all those years ago but there have been at least some signs to point to the possibility of him leaving. Namely, the organization quickly worked out multi-year extensions with Mattias Ekholm, Mikael Granlund, and Juuse Saros last summer, deals that eat up quite a bit of cap space moving forward. With Matt Duchene, Ryan Johansen, and Roman Josi also on the books for a combined $25MM per season, it’s not like there is a ton of room to fit in another huge contract.

Still, it’s hard to imagine the Predators offensive attack without Forsberg in the middle of it. He became the franchise leader in goals this season, passing David Legwand in 400 fewer games, and he sits 14th in the entire league since his rookie season. That history–especially buoyed by his exceptional 2021-22 campaign–is going to make Forsberg able to demand a substantial raise on the $6MM he has earned in each of the last six years, and a long-term deal to go with it.

Another thing to remember, and something that potentially could affect negotiations, is general manager David Poile’s aversion to giving out no-trade clauses. The only player on the Nashville roster that holds one is captain Roman Josi, and Forsberg has seen the lack of trade protection play out in recent years with the departures of Viktor Arvidsson and Ryan Ellis. There’s almost no doubt that he could secure a full no-movement clause elsewhere if he decides to test the market later this summer.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Luke Evangelista Assigned To AHL

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With the Milwaukee Admirals already up 2-0 over the Manitoba Moose, they will get another reinforcement for their Calder Cup run. The Nashville Predators announced today that Luke Evangelista has been assigned to the AHL club.

Evangelista, 20, led the OHL in goals this season with 55 and came fourth in overall points with 111. The London Knights captain truly looked as though he was a whole level above his competition at times, toying with them before threading a pass to a teammate or beating a goaltender with his wicked wrist shot. The Predators certainly would have been happy with his development since making him the 42nd overall pick in 2020, as he looks ready to take the next step and become a top contributor at the AHL level.

In fact, Evangelista is one of the players that actually already has substantial AHL experience. He played in 14 games for the Chicago Wolves last season when the OHL canceled their season due to COVID-19 and had four points. Had he reached the 20-game mark that would have made him eligible to stay there this year, it seems likely that he would have already taken that step. Instead, he was just one of the most dominant players in the OHL, captaining the program that is well-known as an NHL player factory.

Snapshots: Eichel, Forsberg, First Overall Pick

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When the Vegas Golden Knights ended up missing the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, many seemed to quickly point to Jack Eichel’s somewhat lackluster 25 points in 34 games this season as part of the problem. Now, as in keeping with the story behind Vegas’ season, team president George McPhee revealed Eichel played the final six weeks of the regular season with a broken thumb after suffering the injury on March 17.

With sniper Max Pacioretty limited to 39 games and captain Mark Stone limited to 37, the Golden Knights were ravaged by injuries on an unprecedented level this season (although this year’s Canadiens also belong in that conversation). The team had just seven skaters hit the 70-game mark, and, to make matters worse, starter Robin Lehner was also limited to just 44 starts as he battled through injury this season as well. If a fully healthy Eichel (after a healthy offseason as well) returns to the Vegas lineup come October, there’s a strong chance the team will pick up where they left off at the end of 2020-21.

Avalanche, Predators Send Several Players To AHL

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Now that they have been eliminated from the playoffs, the 2021-22 season is over for most of the Nashville Predators. Not so for at least three, as Cody Glass, Connor Ingram, and Mathieu Olivier have all been reassigned to the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals to join their Calder Cup run.

Ingram, 25, ended up starting the Predators final three games, despite having just three NHL appearances heading into the playoffs. The young netminder held his own, recording a .913 save percentage and coming oh-so-close to stealing a win from the Colorado Avalanche in game two. Ingram made 49 stops in that overtime loss, easily the highest of his short NHL career to this point. Signed to a one-way contract for next season, he is a candidate to serve as the team’s full-time backup after the strong performance.

Glass, 23, came up at the end of the season and played in two of the four playoff games for Nashville, averaging fewer than ten minutes of ice time and failing to record a point. It was a difficult year for the top prospect, who was forced down to the minor leagues for most of the year after a trade from the Vegas Golden Knights. Instead of complaining though, Glass became a star for the Admirals, scoring 62 points in 66 games to lead the club. With a restricted free agency negotiation upcoming, a good showing in the AHL playoffs would certainly help.

Olivier, 25, played in three of the four playoff games for the Predators, also recording zero points but racking up 12 penalty minutes. The undrafted forward doesn’t do much scoring but can bring a level of physicality to the Admirals series. In 46 games for them this year, he had 11 points and 76 penalty minutes.

Meanwhile, the Avalanche have sent their own reinforcements down as they await the results of the other series. Justus Annunen and Hunter Miska have both been returned to the Colorado Eagles, who start a series against the Ontario Reign tomorrow night. Neither goaltender was ever really expected to play for Colorado, though Darcy Kuemper’s eye injury certainly made it a possibility.

2022 Vezina Finalists Announced

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Over the next week, the NHL will be releasing the finalists for all of the major regular season awards. After yesterday’s Norris announcement, next up is the Vezina Trophy, which is given to the best goaltender in the NHL and is voted on by the league’s general managers.

This year’s finalists are Jacob Markstrom of the Calgary Flames, Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers, and Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators.

Markstrom, 32, is a finalist for the first time, following his best and most consistent season to date. Appearing in 63 games for the Pacific Division-winning Flames, the big netminder won 37 games, posted a .922 save percentage, and led the league with nine shutouts. The backbone for his team all season long, Markstrom was a huge part of the stingy Flames team that turned from a high-flying circus into a controlled, defensive team under head coach Darryl Sutter.

Shesterkin, 26, is the odds-on favorite to win the award, despite his recent struggles in the playoffs. The Rangers would have been absolutely lost without him this season, and he led the league in both save percentage and person goals-against average. That .935 mark was ten points higher than his nearest competitor and raised Shesterkin’s career number to something of legends. Among goaltenders with at least 100 NHL appearances (he has exactly that), his .928 career save percentage is well ahead of Dominik Hasek’s .922 for first place. It will obviously be hard to maintain that over a whole career, but the Russian netminder is off to a historic start.

Saros meanwhile shouldn’t be forgotten. The 27-year-old netminder appeared in 67 games for the Predators, more than any other goaltender in the league, despite being injured in the final week. Last year’s sixth-place finisher, he posted a strong .918 save percentage and dragged Nashville into a playoff spot. One of the smallest goaltenders in the league at 5’11”, Saros continues to show why the Predators were so excited about his development even when they still had Pekka Rinne in place as the starter. Since his rookie season in 2016-17, Saros hasn’t posted a save percentage under .914 and now has a career mark of .920 in 222 appearances, good for seventh on the all-time list.

2022 Norris Trophy Finalists Announced

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The NHL has started to release their award finalists, this time announcing the three nominees for the Norris Trophy. The award is given out to the top defenseman “who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-round ability in the position.” Last year’s winner was Adam Fox of the New York Rangers, but he won’t be defending his title this time around.

This year’s finalists are Roman Josi of the Nashville Predators, Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche, and Victor Hedman of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Josi, winner of the award in 2020, nearly reached an unfathomable offensive level this season when he scored 23 goals and 96 points for the Predators. He became the highest-scoring defenseman in nearly three decades and joined a group of Hall of Fame defensemen with at least 96 points in a single season. Only Bobby Orr, Paul Coffey, Al MacInnis, Brian Leetch, Denis Potvin, Phil Housley, and Ray Bourque have ever reached those heights previously, nearly a Mount Rushmore of offensive NHL defensemen. It is the second time he has been named a finalist, following his win two years ago.

Makar, still just 23 years old, has now been a finalist in back-to-back seasons after finishing second in voting last year. The Avalanche phenom led all defensemen with 28 goals and racked up 86 points, pushing his career total just over a point-per-game through three seasons. It’s hard to fathom the ceiling for the 2017 fourth-overall pick, who also took strides defensively this year and once again was one of the most valuable players in the league by many metrics. Makar averaged nearly 26 minutes a game and set highs in more traditional defensive statistics like +/- (+48), blocks (110), and hits (95).

Hedman is probably used to this by now, after being a finalist in each of the last five seasons previous. He won the award in 2018, a season that paled in comparison (at least offensively) to this year. The big Tampa Bay blueliner racked up his first 20-goal season and pied on a career-best 85 points, while playing in all 82 games for the first time in his 13-year career. Averaging more than 25 minutes a night in all situations, Hedman is carving out a career that will have him considered among the very best the game has ever produced when it is all said and done.

Tomorrow, the award announcements will continue with the three finalists for the Vezina Trophy.

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