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Free Agent Focus: Nashville Predators

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Free agency is now just a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Predators.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Jaret Anderson-Dolan – The 24-year-old played just one game with the Predators this season after being claimed off waivers from the Los Angeles Kings. The Calgary, Alberta native played 31 games total, posting just a goal and three assists. A former second-round pick in 2017, Anderson-Dolan was thought to be a player who could develop into a bottom-six scoring option, but to this point in his career, his game hasn’t translated well to the NHL. His size is an issue as he does get overpowered by stronger defensemen, and he isn’t a great passer by NHL standards. However, he brings energy, can shoot the puck, and is a good forechecker. Given his lack of NHL success, it’s possible that Nashville may elect not to issue Anderson-Dolan a qualifying offer.

Other RFAs:  F Egor Afanasyev, RW Wade Allison, D Marc Del Gaizo, G Gustavs Grigals, D Spencer Stastney, D Adam Wilsby, F Liam Foudy, C Juuso Parssinen, F Philip Tomasino

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Anthony Beauvillier – Beauvillier picked a bad time to have the worst offensive season of his career as the 27-year-old registered just five goals and 12 assists while being traded twice during the season and three times in the last 18 months. The former first-round pick looked as though he’d developed into a reliable secondary scorer in the middle six, but his numbers fell off a cliff last season. Beauvillier is a good shooter, brings good energy, and isn’t afraid to get dirty, he’ll find an NHL job next season, but he will be looking at a significant pay cut from the $4.15MM he made last season.

D Tyson Barrie – Barrie was a consistent healthy scratch last season in Nashville and voiced his displeasure at one point. He could be a good option for a team looking for some offense from the backend without a massive financial commitment. Barrie remains a good power play producer, and isn’t the worst defender in his own zone, although he does struggle to contain his opponents if he loses position. Barrie is just one year removed from posting 55 points in 85 games and will likely receive a one-year NHL contract for next season with the hopes that he bounces back to form.

D Alexandre Carrier – Carrier will be an interesting player to watch in free agency as he doesn’t have a long NHL track record, but he has been effective and could be a good second-pairing defenseman for a team. He is quick, has good gap control, and can keep plays alive in the offensive zone with smart pinches, and strong side-to-side work on the blue line. He isn’t afraid to push back in the defensive zone and doesn’t get overpowered by opposing forwards. The 27-year-old made $2.5MM last season on a one-year deal and is due a healthy raise on a multi-year deal.

G Kevin Lankinen – Lankinen is capable of playing like a starting goaltender in short stretches but lacks the consistency of a full-time NHL starter. He has good size but doesn’t play big and has a pretty average skill set. His 4.1 goals saved above expected (as per Money Puck) was pretty solid work in 24 games, although it represented a drop off from the 8.6 goals saved above expected he posted in 2022-23. With Predators star prospect Yaroslav Askarov ready to make the jump to the NHL, it looks as though Lankinen will be looking for a new NHL home. Given the weak goalie market, the 29-year-old should be able to find a multi-year deal with an AAV in the range of $2MM to $2.5MM.

F Jason Zucker – Zucker was in a very different position last summer when he signed a one-year deal worth $5.3MM. Zucker was coming off a 27-goal season and had been healthy for the first time in a while. A multi-year deal never materialized for the 32-year-old, and he opted to bet on himself with the shorter term. Unfortunately, the bet didn’t pay off as Zucker struggled to 14 goals and 18 assists in 69 games and was traded to Nashville at the deadline for a sixth-round pick. Zucker can still skate and isn’t afraid to get physical, he will fetch a multi-year deal, but it will likely come in under $4MM annually.

Other UFAs: G Troy Grosenick. D Jordan Gross, D Roland McKeown, F Kiefer Sherwood, C Jasper Weatherby

Projected Cap Space

The Predators have almost $12MM of dead cap space to contend with due to buyouts and retained salary. Despite this albatross on the books, the Predators still have plenty of room under the salary cap to shape their roster this summer. Nashville has nearly $26.4MM in space to make improvements and re-sign any pending free agents. The Predators are well-positioned to make a splash this summer and might opt to bolster their offense on the trade market. The team could also pursue top players in free agency as they aren’t limited by short-term cap issues. The Predators will need to find a direction with star netminder Juuse Saros and might need to tread lightly when handing out long-term deals if they want to have cap space to re-sign Saros long-term.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

West Notes: Zadorov, O’Connor, Jets

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Defenseman Nikita Zadorov is one of several notable pending unrestricted free agents in Vancouver.  It appears that they’re going to make one last push to try to sign him as CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal reports (Twitter link) the Canucks are preparing to tender the blueliner a final offer soon.  Vancouver acquired the 29-year-old back in November and while he didn’t light it up following the move (14 points in 54 games), Zadorov had a big showing in the playoffs that has certainly bolstered his value.  He picked up four goals and four assists in 13 games while averaging nearly four and a half hits per game in just over 20 minutes a night.  Dhaliwal adds that some think he could get six years at $6MM per season if he gets to the open market.  It would be surprising to see the Canucks go that high with who else needs to be signed but they’ll make one last attempt to try to bridge the gap.

More from the West:

  • While Mikko Rantanen is the most prominent member of the Avalanche who is eligible for a contract extension this summer, Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now examines the other forward of note who can sign a new deal in July, winger Logan O’Connor. The 27-year-old was in the midst of a career year with 13 goals and 12 assists in 57 games before undergoing hip surgery just before the trade deadline.  Considering he is also a quality penalty killer, Rawal posits that O’Connor could push past the $4MM mark on the open market in 2025.  That would certainly be a substantial improvement on the $1.05MM cap charge he’s set to carry in the third and final year of his contract next season.
  • Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun suggests that Eric Comrie could be a good fit for Winnipeg’s backup goalie vacancy. He had some success with them before departing for Buffalo two years ago while goaltending coach Wade Flaherty, who worked with him previously, is still on the staff.  Perhaps more notably, a deal for Comrie should check in at or close to the $775K minimum salary, giving them more room to work with as they look to retain or replace some of their pending free agents.  Laurent Brossoit had a strong showing as Connor Hellebuyck’s backup in 2023-24 but is expected to be too expensive for the Jets to retain this summer.

Radim Simek Signs In Czech League

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It has been quite a fall lately for Radim Simek who wound up not seeing any NHL action this season.  Instead of testing the open market to see what might be out there for him, he has instead elected to return home as Liberec in the Czech Extraliga announced that they’ve inked the defenseman to a three-year contract.

The 31-year-old had originally played in Liberec’s system before coming to North America for the 2018-19 campaign.  Simek established himself as a regular when healthy in his first couple of years in San Jose.  Then-GM Doug Wilson had seen enough to reward him with a four-year, $9MM deal with the hopes that he’d continue to improve and be able to play more regularly.

Unfortunately for the Sharks, neither of those things happened.  He failed to average even 15 minutes a game over the first three years of that deal while he battled more injury trouble and found himself a frequent healthy scratch at times.

That resulted in a change of plans for this past season.  San Jose elected to put him on waivers in training camp and assigned him to the AHL’s Barracuda.  He played in 40 games with them, recording 16 points before being moved to Detroit at the trade deadline as a salary offset in the Klim Kostin trade.  The Red Wings opted to keep Simek in the minors where he got into nine regular season games for the Griffins plus eight playoff contests, collecting three assists in that span.

Simek leaves North America with 209 career NHL games under his belt, all coming over parts of five seasons with San Jose.  In that span, he had seven goals and 22 assists along with 256 blocks and 419 hits.  Considering he’ll be 34 when this contract ends, there’s a good chance this is the end of the road at the NHL level for Simek but as an undrafted player, he still had a pretty good run.

Metropolitan Notes: Devils, Kakko, Blue Jackets

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It’s well-known that the Devils are looking to upgrade between the pipes this summer.  However, as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (video link), that’s hardly the only thing on their wish list.  In addition to searching for a starting goalie, Seravalli relays that New Jersey is also looking for a top-six forward, a bottom-six forward, a top-four defenseman, and a bottom-four blueliner.  That’s a particularly long wish list and is one that they’ll be hard-pressed to fit within their remaining cap room.  Per CapFriendly, they have a little under $20MM in space to work with but a fair-sized chunk of that will go to pending RFA Dawson Mercer.  Accordingly, while GM Tom Fitzgerald is hoping to add that many pieces this summer, he might have to settle for a bit less unless there’s a cost-cutting move coming somewhere.

More from the Metropolitan:

  • While the Rangers and Kaapo Kakko agreed to a one-year, $2.4MM deal on Thursday, that might not be enough to quell any trade speculation. As Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman relayed in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link), it’s possible that this was done to provide more certainty to interested teams as to what his cap charge will be for next season without having to worry about salary arbitration.  Kakko is coming off a down year that saw him record just 13 goals and six assists in 61 games, hardly the type of production New York was hoping for from the second-overall pick in 2019.
  • New Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell has some work to do to reshape Columbus this offseason. To that end, he told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch that he is telling teams that “for the right price, everything is in play”.  He has been fielding calls inquiring about the fourth overall selection in a couple of weeks although it would be surprising to see them most that pick.  Meanwhile, it certainly looks like Patrik Laine could be on the move in the coming weeks and other veterans could also go as Waddell puts his stamp on the team.  After another last-place finish in the Metropolitan, it could be another busy summer in Columbus.

Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

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We’re just a few games away from this year’s Stanley Cup champion being crowned and less than a month away from the draft and free agency. As such, the draft and trade rumor cycle is shifting into high gear. That makes it a great time for the next edition of our mailbag.

Last time, our mailbag was split into three parts. Among other topics, the first covered the likelihood of a Sean Monahan extension in Winnipeg, the second dealt with some Mitch Marner trade speculation, and the last looked over some potential bargain options on the UFA market.

You can submit a question by using #PHRMailbag on Twitter/X or by leaving a comment down below.  The mailbag will run on the weekend.

Robin Salo Signs With SHL’s Malmo Redhawks

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June 14: The Redhawks made Salo’s signing official today, confirming the two-year term.

June 6: Islanders pending Group VI free agent defenseman Robin Salo is heading overseas. He’s set to sign a two-year deal with the Malmö Redhawks of the Swedish Hockey League, per Expressen’s Johan Svensson.

The Isles picked up Salo in the second round of the 2017 draft. The Finnish blue liner remained overseas for four seasons before coming to North America in 2021.

Now 25, Salo challenged for a major-league role out of camp the following season, and he put up a goal and four assists through his first 21 NHL games in bottom-pairing minutes. But he didn’t stick full-time, and he ended up spending most of the season on assignment to AHL Bridgeport, where he had a strong campaign with 20 points and a +1 rating in 40 games.

It’s been all downhill for the Finnish-born defender since, though. He appeared in only 11 games for the Isles in 2022-23 and saw decreased offensive output in Bridgeport, logging no goals and 14 assists in 38 games.

Salo was then placed on waivers to begin this season and never saw a call-up until serving as one of New York’s Black Aces during their first-round loss to the Hurricanes. He was still a regular on the farm with Bridgeport, though, logging five goals and 24 points in 68 games with a -19 rating.

Without much of a path to NHL time, though, it’s not surprising to see Salo return to Europe. He qualified for unrestricted free agency before his 27th birthday because he’s accumulated three North American professional seasons while playing fewer than 80 NHL games.

The left-shot defender has suited up in Sweden before, logging 36 points in 63 games with Örebro HK in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons before joining the Isles. He has a history of playing heavy minutes overseas and could very well serve in a top pairing role with the Redhawks, who also have Blackhawks prospect Jakub Galvas and Senators 2019 first-round pick Lassi Thomson on their blue line next season.

A strong two-year run in Malmö could very well earn Salo some consideration on the international free agent market in 2026. The Isles won’t hold his exclusive signing rights if he opts to return to North America, though.

Senators Re-Sign Cole Reinhart To Two-Way Deal

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The Senators are keeping depth forward Cole Reinhardt in the organization next season, per a team announcement. It’s a one-year, two-way deal that carries an NHL salary and cap hit of $775K with an AHL salary of $95K.

Reinhardt, 24, was a sixth-round pick of the Sens in 2020 after being passed over in the 2018 and 2019 drafts. The Calgary-born left winger has just one NHL appearance to his name, skating 8:35 against the Predators in a game on April 7, 2022, while recording a shot on goal and taking a minor penalty.

Ottawa has still gotten solid value out of Reinhardt as a late-round selection thus far. He’s grown into a consistent contributor with AHL Belleville, putting up 40 goals and 99 points in 225 games over the last four years. Reinhardt leverages his 6’1″, 207-lb frame to play a heavy game and has displayed good shooting ability in the past, although he was limited to only eight goals in 56 contests this season.

Reinhardt spent his first professional season, 2020-21, on an AHL contract with Belleville before signing his entry-level deal with Ottawa the following offseason. That rookie contract covered his last three seasons of play, making this his first standard contract. He would have become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights had he not extended before July 1.

He earns a minor raise on the $70K AHL salary he earned in the final year of his rookie deal. Reinhardt will be an arbitration-eligible RFA again next summer upon expiry.

Kraken Sign Oscar Fisker Mølgaard To Entry-Level Deal

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The Kraken have signed center prospect Oscar Fisker Mølgaard to his three-year, entry-level contract, the team announced Friday. It carries a cap hit of $950K, the maximum for a rookie deal.

Mølgaard, 19, was a second-round pick of Seattle in last year’s draft. Taken 52nd overall, he was the middle of three second-round selections the Kraken owned in the 2023 draft, joining left winger Carson Rehkopf (50th overall) and right-shot defenseman Lukas Dragicevic (57th overall).

The Danish pivot has a good shot to cap off a well-rounded two-way game. Standing at 6’0″ and 168 lbs, he has some room to grow into his frame before he’s ready for NHL action. But he has spent most of the past two seasons in a top-level professional league, suiting up for HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League.

In 50 games with HV71 this season, Mølgaard had nine goals and 21 points with a -4 rating and was extremely disciplined, logging only 6 PIMs. He finished seventh on the team in scoring and added three assists in their seven-game relegation series win over IK Oskarshamn, helping them stay up in the SHL for the third year in a row.

Mølgaard has also been a fixture on the Danish national junior team, appearing at all the IIHF U18 and U20 events he’s been eligible for since 2022. He also made his senior national team debut this year at the World Championship, scoring a goal and three assists in seven games as the Danes finished seventh in Group A and avoided relegation to next year’s Division IA tournament.

Since he played in the SHL during his draft year, he’s subject to the transfer agreement the NHL has with Swedish leagues. As he was not drafted in the first round, the Kraken must offer him back to HV71 next season before assigning him to their AHL affiliate. He’ll likely challenge for a top-six role on HV71 next season, so they’ll likely gladly take him back on loan.

And, since his 20th birthday doesn’t fall until 2025, the first year of his entry-level deal will slide if he plays fewer than 10 NHL games next season. In that likely event, he’ll receive his first-year signing bonuses but nothing else. His contract will then begin in earnest in the 2025-26 season, keeping him under his rookie deal through the 2027-28 campaign. He will be a restricted free agent upon expiry.

Sharks Notes: Warsofsky, Sturm, Graham, Wiseman, ECHL

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The threat of losing Ryan Warsofsky to another team was likely a contributing factor in the Sharks’ choice to name him as their next head coach, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet opined on Friday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast. Warsofsky, who became the youngest head coach in the league this week at age 36, would have received considerable interest from around the league if he was passed over for the job in San Jose for the second time in three years.

Warsofsky was always a strong candidate for internal promotion after serving as an assistant under David Quinn for the past two seasons. He was interviewed for the head coaching job in 2022 after they let go of Bob Boughner, but the team opted to go with Quinn instead. They still managed to land Warsofsky in an assistant role, though, a decision they evidently think has paid dividends by his recent promotion.

While all the other head coaching vacancies this summer were filled by the time San Jose made their choice, a late GM change in Columbus has had some wondering if Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent could be dismissed. There hasn’t been a ton of noise around Vincent in recent days, though, and the longer it stays quiet, the safer his job is. Still, Warsofsky likely could have landed an associate coach title somewhere else if he didn’t get the San Jose job, a smaller but still meaningful promotion as he eyed a clearer pathway to becoming a head coach. It’s a moot point now, though.

Here’s more on the Sharks:

  • Kings AHL bench boss Marco Sturm may have finished second to Warsofsky in the Sharks’ search, but advancing to multiple rounds of interviews has still put him on other NHL teams’ radars, Friedman said. He remains under contract with Los Angeles next season, as confirmed by John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor, but it’s unclear how much longer he’s signed. Still, the Kings have obviously given him permission to seek other opportunities.
  • Neil Graham, who’s spent parts of the last five seasons as the head coach of the AHL’s Texas Stars, was also considered as one of the initial candidates for the Sharks’ vacancy, per Friedman. The 39-year-old has been in the Dallas organization for more than a decade, first joining as an assistant coach with the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads in 2012. He worked his way up to Steelheads head coach in 2015 and was promoted to the AHL bench four years later. The Calgary native hasn’t been connected to many NHL coaching jobs yet, but he’ll be a name to watch when the carousel starts spinning again next offseason.
  • Sharks assistant Brian Wiseman is “most likely” to stick with the club after being granted permission to speak with other teams this offseason, Jeff Marek of Sportsnet said yesterday. Wiseman, 52, worked with the Sharks’ forward group and power play unit under Quinn the past two seasons after stints with the Oilers and the University of Michigan as an assistant.
  • The Sharks have re-upped their affiliation agreement with the ECHL’s Wichita Thunder, per a team announcement. The Thunder have been affiliated with San Jose since the 2022-23 season after previously working under the Oilers’ and Senators’ organizational umbrellas.

Rangers RFA Olof Lindbom Signs In Finland

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Goaltender Olof Lindbom’s time in the Rangers organization may be coming to an end. The pending restricted free agent is heading to Europe next season, signing a one-year deal with Pelicans of the Finnish Liiga with a one-year option.

Lindbom, 23, was the first goaltender taken in the 2018 NHL Draft, taken off the board in the early second round with the 39th overall pick. Nearly six years later, it seems like a regrettable choice. Justus Annunen, Lukáš Dostál, Samuel Ersson, and Joel Hofer are just some of the goalies selected after him who have already logged NHL action and still have more to grow.

The Stockholm native waited until the 2022 offseason to sign his entry-level contract with the Rangers. He came to North America after putting up decent but unimpressive numbers as a starter in the HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier pro league.

Lindbom wasn’t able to even carve out a role with New York’s AHL affiliate in Hartford, though, and spent most of the last two seasons on assignment to the ECHL with the Jacksonville Icemen and Cincinnati Cyclones. This year in Cincinnati was especially difficult for Lindbom, struggling with a .884 SV%, 3.56 GAA, one shutout and a 10-15-3 record in 29 games. He fared slightly better in limited action with Hartford, logging a .916 SV% in six games, but his sub-.900 play in the ECHL over the past two years offers little hope for an NHL future.

As such, he’s heading to Finland for the first time after spending all of his pre-Rangers days in Sweden. The 6’2″ netminder’s NHL rights could still stay with the Rangers if they issue him a qualifying offer before the June 30 deadline, although it wouldn’t surprise many to see him be non-tendered. He’ll team up on Pelicans next year with Jasper Patrikainen, another young netminder who’s had an up-and-down run over the past few years.

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