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Nashville Predators Sign Zach Sanford

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The Nashville Predators are going to give Zach Sanford another chance, signing him to a one-year, $850K contract for the 2022-23 season.

It’s been nine years now since Sanford was selected 61st overall by the Washington Capitals, and despite short periods of success, appears to be at something of a crossroads in his career. Though he stands 6’4″ and is willing to engage physically, Sanford has never seemed like an ideal fit in the bottom-six, with obvious offensive talent that should push him higher in the lineup.

Unfortunately, that talent only comes out in inconsistent spurts, leading to Sanford being tossed around the league the last 12 months. After filing for arbitration last summer he agreed to a one-year, $2MM deal with the St. Louis Blues, only to be traded a few months later to the Ottawa Senators. He lasted 62 games in Ottawa before another trade took him to the Winnipeg Jets, a move that made little sense at the time, as a playoff run looked like a dream.

The Jets used a fifth-round pick on Sanford in March, only to watch him leave as a free agent this summer, following a goal-less 18 games in Winnipeg. Overall this season he had nine goals and 21 points in 80 games.

In recent years, the Predators have been able to carve out “identity” roles for players with limited skillsets, finding a place for them to do what they do best and not ask for more. Whether they can do the same for Sanford remains to be seen but with an $850K deal he likely figures into the mix at some point.

If he leans into his size and strength, simplifying his game, he might become a bottom-six weapon. If not, he could be approaching his last chance as an NHL regular.

Nashville Predators Sign Kevin Lankinen, Three Others

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The Nashville Predators supplemented their NHL/AHL fringe depth on defense yesterday, and they’re doing the same today on offense. The team announced a trio of signings separately on Thursday afternoon, signing Kiefer Sherwood to a one-year, one-way $750K contract, and Mark Jankowski and Cole Smith to one-year, two-way $750K contracts. They also signed former Chicago Blackhawks netminder Kevin Lankinen to a one-year, $1.5MM contract to back up starter Juuse Saros.

Despite Nashville receiving strong play from Connor Ingram in limited regular-season appearances and even turning to him as a starter in the playoffs over David Rittich, the team’s opted to bury him on the depth chart for another season. Lankinen had a rough season with the Blackhawks in 2021-22 after an up-and-down rookie campaign the year prior, finishing the year with an 8-15-6 record, 3.50 goals against average, and .891 save percentage. He’ll look to improve on those numbers (and stay healthy) on a more fortified Nashville team.

Sherwood, Jankowski, and Smith will be charged with playing top AHL roles once again, something they’re getting used to in their careers. Sherwood and Jankowski especially will be strong call-up options in case of injury with decent amounts of NHL experience.

Nashville Predators Sign Three Players

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Sportsnet’s Pat Steinberg is reporting that former Calgary Flames defender Kevin Gravel is heading to the Nashville Predators organization on a two-year deal. The team will also add AHL Defenseman of the Year Jordan Gross on a two-year deal, according to his agency Bartlett Hockey. Lastly, a third minor-league defenseman joins Nashville in Roland McKeown, who Chris Johnston reports signed a two-year deal.

The first player signed, Gravel, is a big defender with a wealth of professional experience. He has 109 NHL games to his name and has occupied a priority call-up role for the past several seasons. This past season Gravel spent the year with the AHL’s Stockton Heat, registering 14 points in 59 games. Gravel ranked third on the Heat in average time-on-ice per game and saw heavy usage on the team’s penalty kill. That should be the sort of role Gravel plays in the Nashville organization, serving as an important AHL defensive defenseman as well as a safe call-up option in case they run into major injury issues.

The second player is undrafted Notre Dame product Gross, the AHL’s reigning defenseman of the year. Gross is an undersized defenseman who has excelled as an offensive blueliner at the AHL level. He had 65 points in 61 games and 10 points in nine playoff games. Gross operated as the Colorado Eagles’ number-one defenseman and saw significant time on both the power play and penalty kill. If he’s paired with Gravel, he should have even more freedom to act as an offensive generator and could have an even better AHL year than the brilliant one he just finished.

The final signing, Roland McKeown, also comes from the Colorado Eagles, where he played after spending 2020-21 in the SHL. McKeown was the Eagles’ number-four defenseman and featured heavily on their penalty kill. A similar role for him as an AHL top-four defenseman and penalty kill anchor is likely in store for him with the Milwaukee Admirals.

Nashville Predators Sign Devin Cooley, Jimmy Huntington

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July 13: Nashville made the contract official today, also announcing that they’ve signed forward Jimmy Huntington to his qualifying offer. Huntington, who Nashville acquired mid-season in a minor swap with the Tampa Bay Lightning, was strong down the stretch with the Milwaukee Admirals, notching 28 points in 43 games across both the regular season and playoffs.

July 12: After receiving a qualifying offer yesterday, Devin Cooley isn’t going to wait around. PuckPedia reports that Cooley will accept the offer, meaning he’ll sign a one-year deal with the Nashville Predators worth $787.5K at the NHL level and $70K in the AHL.

Cooley, 25, was signed as an undrafted goaltender out of the University of Denver in 2020 and has spent the last two years climbing the minor league ladder. Starting in the ECHL with the Florida Everblades, he has since made his move up to the Milwaukee Admirals, where he started 24 games during the regular season. Then, in the playoffs, he took his game to an entirely new level with a .926 save percentage in seven games, likely enough to land him that qualifying offer in the first place.

Standing 6’5″ and with steadily increasing performance, Cooley is an interesting player to follow this season. If his overall AHL numbers go up again, the Predators might have a late-bloomer on their hands with a legitimate NHL future. It’s worth a one-year deal to find out, given he’ll be waiver-exempt again and can go right to the minor leagues.

Notably, a one-year deal will also make Cooley a Group VI unrestricted free agent next summer (unless he somehow gets into 28 games in the NHL), meaning you might see a mid-year extension if he’s doing well for the Admirals.

Nashville Predators Extend Jimmy Huntington

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  • Shortly thereafter, the Nashville Predators extended forward Jimmy Huntington on a one-year, two-way contract worth $750K at the NHL level and $80K in the minors, leaving him an RFA at the conclusion of the deal, per CapFriendly. Huntington spent five years in the QMJHL, finishing his career with an incredible 92 point season with the Rimouski Oceanic in 2018-19 before turning pro, spending parts of the previous three seasons between the ECHL and AHL. The undrafted forward spent 2021-22 with the Syracuse Crunch and Milwaukee Admirals, putting up 13 goals and 22 assists in 61 games combined.

Predators Agree To Eight-Year Contract With Filip Forsberg

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July 11: The Predators have now officially announced the contract, with Poile releasing the following statement:

We are very pleased to announce Filip’s signing today. As one of the best offensive players in our history, we are thrilled to have Filip as a part of our team for the next eight seasons. His talent, competitiveness and leadership are critical to our future as we continue to strive for our goal of winning a Stanley Cup. We believe that Filip, like Pekka Rinne before him and like our captain, Roman Josi, is doing now, will write a legacy with the Predators that fans will remember forever. Additionally, we’d like to wish Filip and his fiancée Erin all the best as they get married later this month. We appreciate having them both in our SMASHVILLE family for the next eight years. 

July 9: Filip Forsberg isn’t leaving Nashville anytime soon as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve agreed to an eight-year contract with the winger.  While financial terms weren’t officially disclosed, 104.5 The Zone’s Dawn Davenport was the first to report (Twitter link) that the deal is worth around $70MM; Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli confirms (via Twitter) that the deal carries an $8.5MM AAV which is worth a total of $68MM.

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reported Sunday morning on the financial structure of the Forsberg deal. It is as follows:

  • 2022-23: $10MM
  • 2023-24: $10MM
  • 2024-25: $10MM
  • 2025-26: $10MM
  • 2026-27: $4.5MM base salary, $3MM signing bonus
  • 2027-28: $4MM base salary, $3MM signing bonus
  • 2028-29: $4MM base salary, $3MM signing bonus
  • 2029-30: $3.5MM base salary, $3MM signing bonus

Interestingly, the deal does, in fact, come with some protection against movement. Per LeBrun, the deal has a full no-movement clause throughout, and a modified no-trade clause for the final two seasons of the contract.

The 27-year-old has spent parts of the last ten seasons with the Predators after they acquired him at the trade deadline from Washington in 2013 in exchange for Martin Erat and Michael Latta in a trade that worked out a whole lot better for Nashville than it did for the Capitals.  Since then, Forsberg has become a consistent scorer for the Preds and has been a key cog on their top line for several years.

While Forsberg has been pretty steady in the goal-scoring department having notched at least 20 goals in each of his first six seasons (and produced at a 20-plus-goal pace in 2020-21), he found a new gear this past season, scoring 42 goals while chipping in with 42 assists, both career highs by a considerable margin.  That was good enough to finish third on the Predators in points behind Roman Josi and Matt Duchene with their goal output – which ranked 12th in the league – helping to propel them to the postseason with the team only being in the middle of the pack in goals allowed.

The timing for that jump in production couldn’t have been better for Forsberg as it placed him as one of the top free agents of this year’s class, giving him plenty of leverage in contract talks.  That has allowed him to earn a $2.5MM raise from his previous contract and plenty of job security since he’ll be signed through the 2029-30 season.  It will be interesting to see if he was able to get any form of trade protection in the contract as that’s something that GM David Poile has historically been extremely hesitant to hand out over the years.

Nashville is clearly looking to remain in the playoff picture after adding Ryan McDonagh earlier this offseason and keeping Forsberg in the fold will certainly help their chances of reaching the postseason again.  They have a little over $9MM left in cap space per CapFriendly with RFA winger Yakov Trenin the most notable still to be signed so it’s possible that the Predators could look to add another impact player this summer if they intend to spend close to the $82.5MM salary cap.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

San Jose Sharks Acquire Luke Kunin

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The San Jose Sharks have landed another depth forward, acquiring Luke Kunin from the Nashville Predators. The Sharks will be sending back John Leonard and a 2023 third-round pick.

Kunin, 24, is a restricted free agent this summer, coming off a two-year deal that carried a $2.3MM cap hit. He’ll need a qualifying offer worth the same amount and is eligible for salary arbitration, though the Sharks could also work out a contract before that is necessary.

While he hasn’t exactly lived up to his billing as the 15th overall pick in 2016, Kunin’s game has developed to the point where he is an effective bottom-six option. This year, he seemingly decided to lean into the physical side of the game, racking up 223 hits and 99 penalty minutes–nearly doubling his career totals.

Still able to contribute around the net, he also potted 13 goals, the third-straight double-digit total for the young forward. As the Sharks start to form a new identity under general manager Mike Grier, Kunin’s toughness and versatility will come in handy.

For the Predators, landing a depth forward and a third-round pick certainly makes up for it. Leonard, 23, has 58 games of NHL experience and was a strong performer for the San Jose Barracuda this year. He too will need a contract and is arbitration-eligible but doesn’t have much of a case for anything over the league minimum.

By moving Kunin out, the team has opened up some additional cap space as they fit in Ryan McDonagh and continue to speak with Filip Forsberg.

Latest On Filip Forsberg

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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.

NHL Announces 2022-23 Regular Season Schedule

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The news continues to break during what’s been a busy pre-draft week. The NHL has released the full 82-game schedule for the 2022-23 campaign, marking a return to normal dates and length for the first time since 2018-19.

2022-23 will see its curtains open overseas, where the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators will open the season at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czechia on October 7 and 8, 2022. The regular season will begin on the North American side of the Atlantic Ocean on Tuesday, October 11, 2022, with a classic doubleheader. The puck will drop at Madison Square Garden for an Eastern Conference Final rematch between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers, followed by a Pacific Division showdown in Southern California between the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings.

The Colorado Avalanche Stanley Cup banner-raising ceremony will be the following night at home against the Chicago Blackhawks. The season will wrap up on April 13, 2023.

Some key events throughout the season include the 2022 Global Series in Tampere, Finland, where the Avalanche and Columbus Blue Jackets will play a pair of games on November 4 and 5, 2022. The 2023 Discover NHL Winter Classic is slated for January 2, 2023, between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins at Fenway Park, and the 2023 NHL Stadium Series is set for February 18, 2023, in Raleigh, North Carolina, where the Hurricanes will host the Washington Capitals. All-Star Weekend will be February 3-4, 2023, hosted by the Florida Panthers.

Latest on Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk

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There’s a significant sense around the league that teams are rushing to get their salary cap situations cleared up before the start of free agency next week. Moves like the Tampa Bay Lightning trading Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators for spare change and the Minnesota Wild moving early on a Kevin Fiala deal are evidence of that.

Now, another team is joining that list of really trying to make headlines in the near future. ESPN’s Kevin Weekes reports that the Calgary Flames are making “every effort” now not only to re-sign top pending unrestricted free agent forward Johnny Gaudreau but also restricted free agent Matthew Tkachuk.

While most of the public talk has centered around Gaudreau’s status, it makes sense that general manager Brad Treliving would want to get these deals done in a short window. Playing on the same line, Gaudreau and Tkachuk helped propel each other to career seasons. The Flames are likely hoping that keeping the two together will keep their level of play from declining after this season.

Finances are also a huge part of this equation too, though. Gaudreau and Tkachuk are surely bound to take up a gigantic chunk of Calgary’s offseason spending limit, likely at least $16MM of it. With a long list of other players to re-sign and/or spots to fill via free agency, Calgary needs a clear picture of how much cash they’ll be able to devote to players like Andrew Mangiapane and Oliver Kylington while still fielding a cap-compliant squad.

With Tkachuk’s value through the roof after his 40-goal, 100-point season and Gaudreau likely able to net eight figures on the open market, Treliving faces his toughest challenge yet as GM in Calgary in order to keep this year’s Pacific Division champions at the top of the Western Conference.

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