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Filip Forsberg

Snapshots: Three Stars, Laine, Bear

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The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Filip Forsberg leading the way. The Nashville Predators winger scored five goals and seven points in three games, extending his lead in the team scoring race. Forsberg now has 14 goals and 32 points in 35 games, not quite the same pace he set last season when looking for a new contract. Even with a Forsberg hat trick on New Year’s Eve, the Predators failed to secure two points against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Second and third went to Erik Karlsson and Antti Raanta, who each had outstanding weeks. Karlsson had seven assists in four games and now leads the entire NHL in that category with 40 through his first 39 games. The San Jose Sharks defenseman is having an incredible bounce-back campaign and will once again be a Norris candidate thanks to a huge point total. Raanta, meanwhile, stopped 67 of 71 shots across three wins, keeping the Carolina Hurricanes on their 11-game streak.

  • Patrik Laine is out of COVID protocol and back with the Columbus Blue Jackets, according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The star ginger will be back in the lineup tomorrow and is expected to skate with Kent Johnson and Jonny Gaudreau on the top line. Laine’s season has been constantly interrupted by injury and illness, resulting in just 20 games played so far. He has nine goals and 16 points in those appearances.
  • Portzline adds that Nick Blankenburg, who has been out since November, will travel with the club for their game against the Ottawa Senators but is not expected to play. The 24-year-old was averaging more than 18 minutes a night in his seven appearances before going down to a broken ankle.
  • Now that the calendar has been turned to 2023, players on one-year deals are eligible to sign extensions as Joe Pavelski did yesterday. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Ethan Bear and the Vancouver Canucks are expected to talk this week about a potential deal, though there is no guarantee a contract is signed so quickly. Bear has played well for the Canucks since they acquired him at the end of October from the Carolina Hurricanes, and is currently scheduled to become a restricted free agent when his one-year, $2.2MM deal expires.

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.

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.

Central Notes: Forsberg, Leddy, King

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Predators winger Filip Forsberg is one of the most prominent pending unrestricted free agents with the opening of the market now less than two weeks away.  However, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relays in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that teams believe there’s a path for the 27-year-old to stay in Nashville on a max-term eight-year deal with an $8.5MM AAV.  Such a deal would represent a $2.5MM raise on his last contract, one that would be well-deserved after a 42-goal, 84-point season.  Worth noting is that Nashville’s tax situation is a favorable one so if other teams think an AAV of $8.5MM would get a deal done with the Predators, teams that aren’t in an ideal tax environment would need to go considerably higher to match the net money Forsberg would receive.

More from the Central:

  • While Nick Leddy isn’t the top-pairing player he once was, NHL.com’s Lou Korac suggests in his latest blog that the blueliner could still command a four or five-year contract on the open market later this month. The 31-year-old picked up 24 points in 75 games between Detroit and St. Louis during the regular season while averaging over 21 minutes a night while chipping in with five points in nine playoff contests.  While the Blues would certainly like to keep him around, it’s unlikely they’ll be able to free up the type of money it will cost to sign Leddy to that long of a contract.
  • While Derek King is no longer Chicago’s head coach following the hiring of Luke Richardson, GM Kyle Davidson told reporters, including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times, that the Blackhawks are looking to retain King in a yet-to-be-determined role. It’s possible that King goes back to AHL Rockford which is where he was before he was called on to replace Jeremy Colliton while he also could become an assistant on Richardson’s staff or transition into a role in their front office.

West Notes: Forsberg, Horvat, Oilers Coaching Staff

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Recently, we covered how Filip Forsberg and the Nashville Predators’ negotiations on a new contract had been difficult, with both sides still “far apart” in terms of what a potential extension would look like. A week later, the situation remains uncertain. TSN’s Darren Dreger reported on the status of the negotiations today, clarifying that while the gap between the team and player is said to be less than $1MM per year, there still has not been “a lot of progress” on finalizing a deal. With the eight-year term already agreed upon, that relatively small gap in the negotiation could cause the situation to drag on until potentially even the start of free agency.

With the gap under $1MM, it’ll be extremely interesting to see if Forsberg remains a Predator. He is the team’s all-time leading goal scorer and among their most important players. GM David Poile is a firm negotiator, and the Predators’ reluctance to give n0-trade protection on deals has been well-publicized. So, with that reputation in mind, it’s fair to wonder if Poile will let that six-figure gap be the reason Forsberg departs Nashville. From most fans’ perspectives, it seems like an easy question: the small bump in cost is worth avoiding the trouble of finding a replacement player. But to cement a deal with the long-tenured Poile, who is no stranger to letting important players leave in free agency, perhaps Forsberg will be the one who will need to compromise.

Now, for some other notes from across the NHL’s Western Conference:

  • While J.T. Miller has been the name most frequently mentioned in trade rumors, Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat actually has an identical contract situation, as he too will become an unrestricted free agent next summer. But unlike Miller, Horvat probably won’t be on the move anytime soon, hence his absence in the rumor mill. Per Thomas Drance of The Athletic (subscription link), the Canucks are “completely invested” in retaining Horvat beyond the expiry of his current contract. It’s easy to see why, as Horvat is among the team’s most important leaders and is still a highly effective on-ice talent. The 27-year-old pivot crossed the 30-goal plateau last year for the first time in his career and should be in line for a moderate raise from his current $5.5MM cap hit.
  • The Edmonton Oilers finalized their coaching situation when they removed the interim tag from coach Jay Woodcroft’s job title. Now, it seems that Woodcroft’s full coaching staff is taking shape. Per Dreger, Oilers assistant Brian Wiseman is “moving on” from the team, while fellow coaches Dave Manson and Glen Gulutzan are expected to stay in Edmonton. Wiseman is a former twelfth-round pick who has been an assistant coach in Edmonton for three seasons. Before then, he was part of the coaching staff at his alma mater, the University of Michigan. While a return to the college ranks is possible, Wiseman will certainly have options, as Dreger reports that he is set to have “strong interest” from a “variety of teams.”

Snapshots: Forsberg, Ellis, Jets

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Nashville Predators’ general manager recently publically announced that he had offered Filip Forsberg an eight-year deal to stay in town and avoid free agency, and now Forsberg’s agent has done the same. JP Barry told Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV that they are talking about an eight-year deal and though he noted they are not yet in agreement on salary, the two sides are grinding away at it.

The Predators are the only team that is allowed to offer Forsberg an eight-year deal at the moment, and even that right will expire in two weeks when free agency begins. The 40-goal winger will turn 28 in August, meaning a contract of that length would take him well into his mid-thirties and potentially represent the final big payday of his career.

  • Ryan Ellis has played in just four games for the Philadelphia Flyers since they acquired him in the summer of 2021 and that total may not increase for a while. When speaking with media including Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic, general manager Chuck Fletcher explained that there is still plenty of work to do in Ellis’ rehab and would not confirm that the veteran defenseman will be ready for the start of the season. Ellis, who was acquired for Philippe Myers and Nolan Patrick, has five years remaining on his contract and carries a cap hit of $6.25MM.
  • The Winnipeg Jets had an option as part of the Andrew Copp trade to take either the St. Louis Blues 2022 second-round pick or the New York Rangers 2023 second. They’ve chosen the former, relays Murat Ates of The Athletic, which will be the 55th overall selection this year. While the 2023 draft is generally considered deeper, the Jets obviously feel as though it is more beneficial to get a player into their system right away.

Latest On Filip Forsberg

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If you were to list all of the pending free agents in terms of earning potential, Filip Forsberg would be right near the top. The 27-year-old winger is coming off an incredible season in which he scored 42 goals and 84 points in just 69 games, setting career-highs in both categories at the perfect time. Thirty-two of those goals came at even-strength, putting him ninth in the entire league, and setting him up for a massive payday this summer.

For the next few weeks, the Nashville Predators are the only team that can offer him an eight-year deal, meaning they likely have the ability to offer the most total money on a new contract. General manager David Poile even confirmed this morning when speaking to reporters including John Glennon of NHL.com that they have offered Forsberg a deal of that length, though wouldn’t clarify the proposed salary.

Despite that, the two sides remain far apart, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, who notably reports that both the dollar amount and type of contract structure are in dispute. Poile is notorious for having very hard lines on contract structure, including things like no-trade clauses. Currently, captain Roman Josi is the only Predator who holds any trade protection (though Pekka Rinne did also negotiate some in the past).

While expecting 40-goal seasons moving forward might be a stretch, Forsberg has been one of the most consistent offensive players in the league for basically his entire time in the NHL. As a rookie in 2014-15, he had 26 goals and 63 points, numbers that he’s hovered around up until this year’s outlying performance. Even taking out this season his career averages are 29 goals and 64 points per 82 games, someone who would fit into basically every top-six in the entire league.

There’s no way of knowing how many teams would be seriously interested in signing him but little doubt that he would be able to secure a seven-year contract on the open market.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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

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.

Snapshots: Forsberg, NHLPA, PWHPA

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This evening on Hockey Night in Canada’s 32 Thoughts segment, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman discussed an update on Filip Forsberg’s contract extension talks, noting that Forsberg’s agent, J.P. Barry and Nashville Predators’ GM David Poille recently met face-to-face for the first time in a while. Friedman says that while it is difficult to gauge any progress on the talks, as nothing was made public from these discussions, the development is significant and represents the two sides continuing to talk.

Forsberg is an impending UFA, who the Predators chose not to trade at this year’s trade deadline, despite not having an extension in place with the forward. Part of the reason to hang onto Forsberg would be for Nashville to use him themselves in another playoff run, but also perhaps their confidence that they could get a deal done with Forsberg before he hits free agency. One advantage Nashville will have over other teams, besides an extended negotiating period and familiarity, is the ability to give Forsberg an eight-year contract as opposed to seven, something he will almost assuredly get.

  • Also from Friedman is that a succession plan for NHLPA Director Donald Fehr could be in place by this summer, though Friedman adds he is not entirely sure what that will look like. Fehr has served in this role since 2010, after a storied career with the MLBPA, however his position has come under fire recently, especially with the release of the results of an independent investigation into the NHLPA and Fehr’s handling of the accusations against the Chicago Blackhawks and Brad Aldrich. The 73-year-old Fehr had already been rumored to be nearing retirement, so to see a succession plan being rumored now is not surprising, even with the investigation news.
  • With the PWHPA planning to go their own way in forming a league without the PHF, Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek shares some details of what the new league will look like. First and foremost, Marek says that the league will have a new name, though what that will be is not yet known. The league’s first season will take place from January through April of 2023 and consists of 32 games per team, including six teams spread between the US and Canada. Each team is expected to have 23 players, with the minimum salary being $35K and the average salary being $55K, as well as benefits for all players. Without too many more pertinent details, it’s hard to forecast what this league and season will truly look like and what fans can expect, however having these basic plans in place is a promising step forward after talks between the PWHPA and PHF have not progressed to anything of note thus far.

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