Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz told reporters today that the team will engage with goaltender Juuse Saros this summer in an effort to ink the netminder to a contract extension (according to Robby Stanley of NHL.com). The 29-year-old has just one year remaining on the four-year deal he signed back in August 2021, that deal turned out to be a massive bargain for the Predators as Saros has been playing under a $5MM average annual value.
Saros is eligible to sign a new deal on July 1st and was the subject of trade rumors for much of this past season. The chatter appeared to get to him as Saros’s save percentage fell to a career-low .906 and his save percentage ballooned to a career-worst 2.86.
In other Nashville Predators notes:
- Michael Gallagher of Nashville Hockey Now is reporting that Predators head coach Andrew Brunette had harsh words for forward Philip Tomasino saying, “If he continues to have the skill without the work, I don’t think he has a chance to play with us next year.” It’s not the first time that Brunette has been publicly critical of Tomasino’s play as he had strong words in February as well. Tomasino was a healthy scratch frequently this season, at one point sitting in the press box for 11 of 52 games. The 24th pick in the 2019 NHL entry draft has been a decent offensive contributor at the NHL level registering 23 goals and 47 assists in 148 games but his overall game has led to criticism from Nashville’s coaching staff and ultimately caused the 22-year-old to be shuttled back and forth between the NHL and AHL. It will be interesting to see if Tomasino remains with Nashville long-term or if the Predators opt to move on from the talented youngster.
- Alex Daugherty of The Nashville Tennessean writes that Predators star forward Filip Forsberg has revealed the ailment that plagued him through the second half of the season and into the playoffs. Forsberg reportedly dealt with a bone bruise on his ankle that cut his leg and made it difficult for him to wear skates. The injury happened when the 29-year-old blocked a shot in mid-February, and it required stitches to repair the skin. While the outside of the wound healed, the bruised bone underneath was the issue that caused Forsberg the most problems. The injury was never severe enough to keep Forsberg out of the lineup and he was a key catalyst to Nashville’s 18-game point streak that thrust them back into the playoff picture. Forsberg posted six points in six playoff games and had a career year in the regular season tallying 48 goals and 46 assists for a career-high 94 points.
@Josh — “…and his save percentage ballooned to a career-worst 2.86.”
Yet another Preds forward draft pick not panning out. Yet this scouting staff remains intact. :/
@Gbear — Jarmo’s brother, Stan Drulia, and many others. So many, it seems NSH has more than most other teams, unless the others only show their top dogs. Get the feeling they *could* have a “too many cooks in the kitchen” thing going on there? Or, worse yet, many of them are “Yes” men, which is just as bad.
@Mac – The Preds North American scouts really just seem to look at stats and nothing else. The star forwards they’ve passed over is an impressive list….in a bad way. :/
@Gbear — Scouting is supposed to embrace the “Eyes on the Prize” mentality, as in, literally watching your prospects in person, when at all possible. At least top-flight scouting. It makes you wonder who in the organization is not holding their feet to the fire.
@Mac – It’s beyond frustrating never seeing a top end forward in the WJC playing for USA or Canada that’s a Preds prospect. Was hoping Trotz would bring in some people from his Caps and Isles connections.
@Gbear — That’s the usual play, alright. I wonder why he hasn’t. Unless those teams don’t want to release them back into the wild.
So are they saying Tomasino is Kyler Murray? Sounds like it.