Nashville's free agents: will they stay or will they go?

by Dirk Hoag on Apr 11, 2009 3:02 PM EDT

Now that the season is over for the Nashville Predators, it's time to assess the year gone by and look ahead towards next season. I'll provide player evaluations early next week, but for now, I wanted to assemble the list of players along with their contract status, so folks have an idea of what David Poile has to work on this summer. All salary values are in millions, data courtesy of NHLNumbers.com.

In a nutshell, the players designated "UFA" are unrestricted, free to sign with any team in the league as of July 1. Restricted Free Agents (RFA) are able to sign offer sheets with potential suitors, but the Predators have the right to match any such deal and keep the player. If they opt to let them go, the Preds would be compensated with draft picks, depending on the salary level of the contract.

So what do you think, Preds fans? Which players on this list should the Preds hold on to? Which ones will attract interest from around the league?

Player	Pos	Age	Cap	2008-9	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13
Forwards
Legwand, David	C	27	4.5	5.5	5	4.5	4.5	4
Arnott, Jason	C	33	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	UFA
Erat, Martin	L	26	4.5	3.5	5.25	5.25	6	5.5
Dumont, Jean-Pierre	R	30	4	4	4	4	4	UFA
Sullivan, Steve	R	33	3.2	3.2	UFA
Bonk, Radek	C	32	1.475	1.6	UFA
Tootoo, Jordin	R	25	0.975	0.975	0.975	UFA
Fiddler, Vernon	C	28	0.85	0.9	UFA
Nichol, Scott	C	33	0.75	0.75	UFA
Jones, Ryan	R	24	0.984	0.92	RFA
Smithson, Jerred	C	29	0.5	0.525	0.725	0.75	UFA
Ward, Joel	R	27	0.5	0.5	UFA
Belak, Wade	R	31	0.65	0.65	0.65	UFA
Pihlstrom, Antti	L	23	0.568	0.53	RFA
Hornqvist, Patric	R	21	0.713	0.595	0.62	RFA
Ortmeyer, Jed	R	29	0.75	0.75	UFA
O'Reilly, Cal	C	21	0.533	0.505	RFA
Santorelli, Mike	C	22	0.592	0.59	0.62	RFA
Defensemen
Weber, Shea	D	22	4.5	4.5	4.5	4.5	RFA
Suter, Ryan	D	23	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	3.5	UFA
De Vries, Greg	D	35	2.5	2.75	UFA
Hamhuis, Dan	D	25	2	2.25	2.5	UFA
Zanon, Greg	D	28	0.725	0.75	UFA
Koistinen, Ville	D	26	0.7	0.7	UFA
Klein, Kevin	D	23	0.65	0.5	0.8	RFA
Sulzer, Alexander	D	24	0.691	0.64	RFA
Goaltenders
Ellis, Dan	G	28	1.75	1.5	2	UFA
Rinne, Pekka	G	25	0.547	0.575	0.725	UFA
MacIntyre, Drew	G	25	0.5	0.5	UFA VI

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Comments

What do you think our chances are with Ward/Sullivan?

also, Weber needs a longer extension

King of the bling come to lay down the evidence//Not George Bush, L-Millz be da president

by Sam Page on Apr 11, 2009 5:07 PM EDT reply actions

There’s no way Weber gets another extension soon, he just signed his last summer.

Ward & Sully are going to be very interesting. Both will presumably attract major interest from teams around the league, and frankly, those are the two RFA’s that I most want to see the Preds hold onto.

The business aspect, however, could prove critical. For Ward, this is a chance for him to land a multi-million dollar deal, something I’m sure he didn’t think likely just a year ago. For Sully, this is probably his last shot at a big-money contract…

More fun than a stick to the face!
On the Forecheck is SB Nation's blog covering the Nashville Predators.

by Dirk Hoag on Apr 11, 2009 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

Do you think Ward has any loyalty, since we were the team who gave him a shot?

King of the bling come to lay down the evidence//Not George Bush, L-Millz be da president

by Sam Page on Apr 11, 2009 9:54 PM EDT up reply actions

Youth and Defense will stay priority

I don’t see Poile changing his attitude toward cheaper youth and defensive value.
Gone are: Sully, Bonk, Koistinen, Sulzer
Stay: Jones, Ward, Pihlstrom, O’Reilly, Zanon, Nichol
???: Fiddler, DeVries, Ortmeyer

This year to me could have the possiblity of really changing the face of the Preds. Bringing in a scorer would be nice, but who? The git of this team to find a goal has worked since post-Kariya, but it can’t continue, as seen by stopping the streak at 4 this year.

"What motivates me more than money are God and my family."
-José Alberto Pujols

by nashvillecardsfan on May 6, 2009 11:06 PM EDT reply actions