The Predators‘ off-season plans got a little bit clearer on Friday. Mike Fisher, the dependable veteran known for playing on both sides of the ice, awesome hair, timely scoring, special teams, and being married to Mrs. Nashville herself, signed an extension worth $8.8 MILLION US DOLLARS over the next two years.
This was first reported by Andy Strickland of Fox Sports Midwest and KTRS.
There was little doubt that Fisher would remain in Nashville, but getting this deal done before the free agency period gives the team a better feeling. Plus, the two-year term is very friendly. And when you look around the league, the money isn’t bad for a player expected to play tough minutes on a middle line.
It’s still too early to see what role Fisher will be playing in even strength situations, but the organization has been loyal to Fisher since the moment he arrived in 2011. And if he can put forth another pair of seasons like 2014-15 where he returned from a tricky surgery, he’ll likely be the best Predators player to ever retire as a Predator.
$4.4 million AAV per season is about the going rate for a good second line center, and some folks might be a bit upset that Fisher didn’t take more of a discount. But given the current situation, the Predators needed the security blanket that is Mike Fisher back on the roster.
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Nashville, Tenn. (June 26, 2015) – Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Friday that the club has signed forward Mike Fisher to a two-year, $8.8 million contract that will pay him $4.8 million in 2015-16 and $4 million in 2016-17.
“Mike Fisher is a player and person anyone would want in their organization,” Poile said. “He is a smart, two-way player who contributes on special teams and is solid in the face-off circle, as well as a member of our leadership group, a respected voice in the dressing room and an integral part of the Nashville community.”
Fisher, 35 (6/5/80), posted 39 points (19g-20a) in 59 games during his fourth full campaign with Nashville in 2014-15, and has amassed the second-most points of any Predator in his 271 games since joining the franchise in February 2011 (78g-94a-172pts). A full-time alternate captain for the third-straight season and the Predators nominee for the King Clancy Trophy for the third time in four seasons in 2015, the Peterborough, Ont., native rebounded from missing the first 21 games of the 2014-15 season to tie for seventh in the NHL in shooting percentage with a career high (17.1), as well as winning a career-high 52.3 percent of his faceoffs taken. The six-time 20-goal scorer and 40-point getter has also finished in the Top 10 in Selke Trophy voting three times in his 15 seasons and has 520 points (245g-275a) in 946 NHL contests with Ottawa and Nashville since 1999-2000.
Ottawa’s second selection, 44th overall (second round), in the 1998 Entry Draft also became the franchise’s second-ever NHL award winner as the recipient of the 2012 NHL Foundation Award, which recognizes a player who applies the core values of hockey – commitment, perseverance and teamwork – to enrich the lives of people in his community.