Predators Sign Navrin Mutter To One-Year Extension
The Nashville Predators have signed forward Navrin Mutter to a one-year, two-way, league-minimum contract for the 2025-26 season. Mutter was set to become a restricted free agent this summer, after completing his three-year, $2.3MM entry-level contract signed in 2022.
Mutter played four seasons in the OHL prior to signing his entry-level deal. His junior career started with the Hamilton Bulldogs in the 2017-18 season, where he quickly found a knack for gritty and antagonistic hockey. Mutter recorded 231 penalty minutes in 155 games through his first three OHL seasons, leading up to the cancelled 2020-21 campaign. He made his pro debut during the cancelled year – spending three games and recording no stats, other than a minor penalty, with the Stockton Heat. But Mutter opted to return to Hamilton for the 2021-22 campaign, and was traded to the Kitchener Rangers mid-season. Between the two squads he recorded a career-high of 22 points and 108 penalty minutes in just 62 games – good enough to convince Nashville to sign him as an undrafted free agent the following summer.
Mutter spent his entry-level contract finding his footing in the minor leagues. He played through his rookie AHL season in 2022-23 and immediately carried over his hard-hitting, dirty-area style of hockey. Mutter recorded eight points, 72 penalty minutes, and a minus-11 in 53 games as a rookie. That was enough to maintain his spot in the AHL for the start of the 2023-24 campaign, though Mutter was demoted to the ECHL in December after recording just two points in the first 12 games of the season. He went on to find a scoring streak in the third-tier league – netting five points in his first eight games. That mark rose to 11 points and 63 penalty minutes in 33 games before Mutter was recalled back to the AHL, where he finished the year with six points and 63 penalty minutes in 26 games.
With his legs under him, Mutter held onto the important role of depth enforcer for the Milwaukee Admirals this season. He only managed four points in 37 games, but did tally 87 penalty minutes – the second-highest PIMs-per-game on the team behind Kyle Marino‘s 150 PIMs in 63 games. This extension will return Mutter to his bruising role in the minors with likely little upside as an everyday NHLer. But should the Predators need a hard-hitting, tough-nosed fighter to boost their lineup – winger Mutter will carry the two-way flexibility to join the NHL camp.
Predators Sign Matt Murray To Two-Year Contract
The Nashville Predators have locked up goaltender Matt Murray to a two-year, two-way contract today, per a team release. The contract is worth $775,000 at the NHL level in both the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons.
Murray – not to be confused with current Maple Leaf and former Penguins standout Matt Murray – has made the most of his opportunity in the AHL this season. He has a 25-10-5 record, .930 save percentage, 2.15 goals-against average and two shutouts with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals this season. The 27-year-old has the most wins, best save percentage and fourth best goals-against average in the AHL and has been a key factor in Milwaukee giving up the second-least amount of goals in the AHL’s Western Conference. For his success on the year, Murray was selected to represent Milwaukee in the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic and has helped the Admirals clinch a spot in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
His best season as a professional comes directly following his most difficult. Last year with the Dallas Stars’ AHL-affiliate, he struggled to the tune of a 14-15-2 record, 3.02 goals-against average, and .896 save percentage. However, he has largely found success over the course of his four years in the AHL, compiling a 62-36-12 record, 2.44 goals-against average, and .916 save percentage. He has added a solid .918 save percentage in 10-career Calder Cup playoff appearances.
However, he has only appeared in four career NHL contests (all with the Stars), including a 23-save shutout against the Minnesota Wild in his only appearance last season. With his arrow pointing up, it will be interesting to see if Murray can take his career to the next level and establish himself as a trusted reserve option for the Preds moving forward. Undrafted, Murray spent five years at the UMass-Amherst and helped the Minutemen earn the 2021 NCAA championship.
Ray Shero Passes Away
Wild senior advisor and longtime Penguins and Devils general manager Ray Shero has passed away, Minnesota’s public relations department said Wednesday. He was 62 years old.
Shero, a St. Paul native, got his start as a player at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York after attending the New Hampton School in New Hampshire. He played four seasons for the Saints as a center from 1980 to 1985, scoring 58-77–135 in 125 games while serving as captain in his senior season. While drafted by the Kings midway through his collegiate tenure, he never turned pro.
Eight years later, Shero made the NHL in a front-office role. Hired by the Senators as an assistant general manager for the 1993-94 season, their second in franchise history, that move kicked off a lifetime’s worth of executive work at the game’s highest level. The son of Stanley Cup-winning head coach Fred Shero remained in Ottawa until the expansion Predators plucked him to serve in an AGM role in 1998. Working under David Poile in Nashville, the league’s all-time leader in wins overseen by a GM, he got a chance to lead his own staff nearly a decade later when the Penguins named him GM and executive VP of hockey operations ahead of the 2006-07 season.
His task: take a young core in Pittsburgh led by Sidney Crosby, Marc-André Fleury, and Evgeni Malkin to the next level. He accomplished that feat within just two years, swinging a blockbuster deal for star winger Marián Hossa at the 2008 trade deadline to help guide the Pens to the 2008 Stanley Cup Final. While they fell to the Red Wings, they set themselves up for a rematch the year later and emerged victorious. Three years after taking over a team that posted a 22-46-14 record in the season preceding his hiring, Shero was a Stanley Cup champion.
Shero remained in his post through the 2013-14 season, helping the Penguins extend their championship contention window. He was named the league’s General Manager of the Year in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign after helping Pittsburgh capture a regular season conference title and was also an AGM for the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
While the Pens fired Shero following a first-round elimination in the 2014 playoffs, he emerged a year later with the Devils. They brought him in ahead of the 2015-16 season to replace longtime GM Lou Lamoriello. He immediately began one of the most aggressive retools of the 2010s, signing or trading for names like Taylor Hall, Kyle Palmieri, and P.K. Subban while drafting New Jersey’s current core three forwards in Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Jack Hughes. He was replaced by current GM Tom Fitzgerald midway through the 2019-20 campaign.
Shero had served as a senior advisor to Wild GM Bill Guerin, who he picked up from the Islanders at the 2009 deadline to help the Pens to a Cup, since the 2021-22 season. “Whenever we ran into each other at a rink when he was scouting, it was clear he loved what he was doing and I always marveled at his infectious enthusiasm,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement. “The entire National Hockey League family mourns his passing and sends our deepest condolences to the Shero family and Ray’s many friends throughout the hockey world.”
All of us at PHR extend our condolences to the Shero family and his numerous friends and colleagues throughout the league.
Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-USPRESSWIRE.
Matthew Wood To Make Debut For Preds
- After signing a three-year, entry-level deal just eight days ago, Predators forward Matthew Wood will be playing in his first NHL game tonight against the Montreal Canadiens, per the team. The 20-year-old was the 15th overall selection back in 2023 and is coming off of a strong season at the University of Minnesota, where he scored 17 goals and 39 points in 39 games. The 6’4, 205-pound winger also recorded two goals and two assists for Team Canada during last season’s World Junior Championship.
Predators Head Coach Andrew Brunette Away From Team For Family Matters
Nashville Predators head coach Andrew Brunette missed the team’s Saturday practice due to family matters, and is questionable for Sunday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens, per Alex Daugherty of The Tennessean. Assistant coach Todd Richards ran Saturday’s practice in Brunette’s absence and will be in line to man the bench should Brunette need to miss another day.
Richards has been in an assistant coach role for the last nine seasons, splitting time between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators. Before that, he served as the head of the Columbus Blue Jackets for parts of five seasons – starting his tenure as a midseason replacement for Scott Arniel in 2012. Richards led Columbus to three winning seasons, though they missed the playoffs in all but one year – and lost in the first round in the other year – of his reign. He was replaced by infamous Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella in 2016. Richards also served two seasons as the Minnesota Wild head coach from 2009 to 2011; and led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a loss in the Calder Cup Championship Final in 2008. His career head coaching record at the NHL level sits at 204-183-37, or a win percentage of 0.481.
A new voice at the helm could be aptly timed for the Predators. They’re in the midst of a five-game losing streak and have a dismal 8-13-1 record since the Four Nations Face-Off Break – seventh-worst in the NHL. Brunette led the Predators to a first-round exit in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, but will miss the postseason by a large step this year. His .408 win percentage on the year is the second-lowest in Predators history, behind their 28-47-7 campaign in 1998-99.
Wiesblatt Sent Down To Milwaukee
- The Predators have returned winger Ozzy Wiesblatt to AHL Milwaukee, per a team announcement. The 23-year-old was recalled on Thursday and got into his fifth game of the season that night, recording five hits in a little over 11 minutes of ice time. Wiesblatt will now return to the Admirals where he has 37 points in 61 games, good for third on the team in scoring.
Predators Sign Magnus Chrona To Two-Way Extension
The Predators announced today they’ve signed goaltender Magnus Chrona to a two-way deal to keep him in the organization for the 2025-26 season. It carries the league-minimum cap hit of $775K. Nashville didn’t disclose his minor-league salary.
Chrona, 24, is in his first season with the Predators. Nashville acquired the depth netminder from the Sharks in last August’s Yaroslav Askarov blockbuster to help replace the latter’s minutes with AHL Milwaukee. He’s had a lukewarm showing with the Admirals, posting an 11-11-5 record, .901 SV% and a 2.87 GAA in 29 appearances. Those numbers are disappointing considering he’s been outperformed by 27-year-old Matt Murray (2.21 GAA, .927 SV%) by a wide margin. His career numbers – a 3.19 GAA and .897 SV% in 60 AHL matchups – don’t inspire a ton of confidence either.
Nonetheless, he’ll be back for another season, albeit as a No. 3 option at most. The Swede is in just his second professional season after turning pro with the Sharks out of the University of Denver in the 2023 offseason. He saw some brief NHL action last year, but he understandably fared poorly behind a league-worst San Jose squad. In eight starts and one relief appearance, he logged a 1-6-1 record, a .859 SV%, and a 4.71 GAA. He only managed three quality starts and conceded 7.6 goals above expected, per MoneyPuck.
After trading Askarov, the Preds don’t have any high-end prospects for Chrona to split time with in the minors. Juuse Saros and Justus Annunen remained signed through next season and will presumably return as their NHL duo. Nashville does have 2023 fourth-rounder Juha Jatkola in the system, but his signing rights are set to expire on June 1 if they don’t get him under contract. The 22-year-old had a .886 SV% in 28 games with Liiga’s KalPa this year. Thus, it’s likely they either re-up Murray on a two-way deal or look elsewhere on the free agent market to find a veteran depth netminder to pair with Chrona in Milwaukee next season.
Chrona was coming off his entry-level contract and would have been a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this summer. The same status now awaits him in 2026.
Evening Notes: Mrazek, Soderblom, Holloway, Stastney
The Detroit Red Wings received split injury updates early on Thursday. Head coach Todd McLellan shared that goaltender Petr Mrazek will continue to sit out with a head injury, but that winger Elmer Soderblom could return from his undisclosed injury on Friday, per Max Bultman of The Athletic. Both players have missed Detroit’s last four games.
The Red Wings have maintained a duo of Cam Talbot and Alex Lyon while Mrazek’s been absent – the same tandem they ran before acquiring Mrazek at the Trade Deadline. Talbot has returned to the starting role after briefly missing time in March – and quickly found a hot streak. He’s posted a .922 save percentage and 2.48 goals-against average in four games since returning – though the low numbers have only led to a 1-2-1 record. His performances have lifted up Alex Lyon’s struggles as of late, with a 1-4-0 record and .843 save percentage in his last five games. Detroit will hope that pair continues to balance each other out as they continue to chase the Eastern Conference Wild Card.
Meanwhile, Soderblom will return looking to find his spark again after netting two goals in his last three games before injury. The pair doubled Soderblom’s year-long totals up to that point, pushing him to four goals and 10 points in 23 games this season. The six-foot-eight winger is playing through his rookie season in the NHL, though he did appear in 21 games and score eight points last season. He’ll step back into a role in Detroit’s bottom-six when he’s good to go.
Other notes from around the league:
- St. Louis Blues winger Dylan Holloway exited their Thursday night game against the Pittsburgh Penguins before the second period with a lower-body injury. He appeared to sustain the injury on a check from Penguins rookie Rutger McGroarty early in the first period. Holloway has been a major proponent of St. Louis’ 10-game winning streak. He’s scored 15 points across the streak, and was riding an 11-game scoring streak of his own before the early exit. That scoring brought Holloway up to 26 goals and 63 points in 77 games this season. Any missed games as a result of this injury would be his first as a Blue.
- Across the Central Division, the Nashville Predators were without defenseman Spencer Stastney for Thursday’s game against the Dallas Stars due to an upper-body injury. He was slated to serve as the team’s seventh dressed defenseman in the matchup, but in his absence, the Predators decided to instead promote rookie forward Ozzy Wiesblatt to the rotation. Stastney has tallied three points, all assists, in 22 games this season and filled a minimal role in Nashville’s lineup as of late.
Predators Recall Ozzy Wiesblatt
The Predators announced this morning that they’ve recalled right-winger Ozzy Wiesblatt from AHL Milwaukee. It’s his fourth recall of the season and his first since last month’s trade deadline. It’s only the second recall Nashville has made out of four allowed since March 7.
Wiesblatt, 23, has been in Milwaukee for most of the season. The former Sharks first-rounder has enjoyed something of a breakout season in Milwaukee, scoring 14-23–37 in 61 games with a plus-nine rating that all stands as the best of his professional career. That’s earned him a few looks in Nashville’s lineup throughout the year, posting an assist and a plus-two rating in four games. He’s averaged 11:03 per contest and has graded out well defensively, controlling 57% of expected goals despite starting 84% of his even-strength shifts in the defensive zone.
As the Predators wrap up a highly disappointing regular season and have been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention for quite some time, they’re hoping Wiesblatt can continue to play well in limited minutes down the stretch and potentially grab a job on next fall’s opening night roster. They acquired him from San Jose last summer and sent the signing rights to Egor Afanasyev, who opted to return home to Russia, the other way. While his entry-level contract was set to expire this year, he signed a two-year, two-way extension with Nashville back in November to keep him off this summer’s restricted free agent market.
Wiesblatt could slot into the lineup tonight against the Stars after Nashville dressed 11 forwards and seven defensemen for its last two games with Jonathan Marchessault and Colton Sissons sidelined. He’ll likely do so on a line with Kieffer Bellows and Fedor Svechkov, the team’s Brooks Bratten reports. That means 2023 first-rounder Matthew Wood will have to wait a little longer to make his NHL debut after signing with the club last weekend.
Predators Prospect Gunnarwolfe Fontaine Signs ATO With Iowa Wild
It appears the Nashville Predators will elect not to sign 2020 seventh-round draft pick Gunnarwolfe Fontaine, who has instead signed an amateur try-out with the AHL’s Iowa Wild. The Predators were set to lose Fontaine’s rights at the end of this season if they didn’t sign him to his entry-level contract. They’ll expedite the process here, allowing Fontaine to turn pro in the AHL after completing his graduate season at The Ohio State University.
Fontaine was drafted after his second season with the USHL’s Chicago Steel. He scored 26 goals and 57 points in 45 USHL games that season, apt support to a Steel roster that also contained Brendan Brisson, Sam Colangelo, Mackie Samoskevich, and Matthew Coronato. Fontaine followed his draft selection by moving to Northeastern University for the 2020-21 campaign. He scored a stout six goals and 15 points in 21 games of his freshman season, and grew to 25 points in 39 games in his sophomore year.
But Fontaine seemed to plateau a bit after the 2021-22 season. His scoring dipped as high-tier teammates like Cameron Lund and Justin Hryckowian began challenging his ice time. Fontaine managed 30 points in 35 games as a junior and fell to 27 points in 36 games in 2023-24. He failed to find his groove as Northeastern’s leading playdriver – sparking a search for bigger minutes at OSU in his graduate year. Fontaine did grow to 40 points in 40 games in the Big Ten – marking his first point-per-game season since his draft-year campaign in the USHL. He’ll look to bring that momentum to the AHL, with hopes that strong play can push him back into the attention of NHL clubs.