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Tommy Novak

Predators Sign Tommy Novak To Extension

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12:25 p.m.: Nashville has made the deal official, confirming the length and value.

12:10 p.m.: The Predators are signing center Tommy Novak to a three-year contract extension, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports. Per Friedman, the deal carries an AAV of $3.5MM, working out to $10.5MM in total value.

As such, one of the top value center options available at the trade deadline is likely off the market. Novak, 26, has been one of the best per-minute producers in the league since last season, accumulating 30 goals and 77 points in 102 games while averaging only 14:31 per contest.

It’s a considerable raise for Novak, who inked a dirt-cheap one-year, $800K extension to remain a Predator in February 2023. The Minnesota native was a third-round pick of the squad in 2015, although he played a full four seasons of college puck with the University of Minnesota and another two years of AHL and ECHL hockey before making his major-league debut in 2021-22.

Now solidified as a full-time NHLer, Novak will continue to take advantage of some lesser competition while shouldering third-line minutes at even strength. An unexpected offensive breakout from shutdown center Colton Sissons has allowed him to occupy a second-line center role behind Ryan O’Reilly, taking difficult defensive matchups off Novak’s hands.

In 51 contests this year, Novak has 13 goals, 21 assists, 34 points, and a -7 rating while averaging 14:22 per game. Perhaps his most significant deficiency is his skill in the dot — he’s won just 44.2% of his draws — but he’s made up for it by dominating his matchups possession-wise with a 55.8 CF% at even strength. That’s because he’s among the league leaders in even-strength offensive zone time at 45.3%, sitting in the 95th percentile among NHL forwards this season, per NHL EDGE.

Nashville GM Barry Trotz has his best bottom-six threat locked in through 2027, at which point he’ll be a UFA. The Predators now have $22.4MM in projected cap space in 2024-25 with a roster size of 13, which could be a tight squeeze to fill 10 roster spots. However, the Predators don’t have many high-caliber pending free agents, so Trotz should have some flexibility to continue retooling Nashville’s roster as they attempt to ascend from playoff hopeful to championship contender.

Nashville Predators Place Tommy Novak On IR

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The Nashville Predators have placed forward Tommy Novak on injured reserve. According to the team, Novak will be out for four-to-six weeks with an upper-body injury.

In a corresponding move, the Predators have recalled defenseman Spencer Stastney from their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.

The loss of Novak, 26, for this extended timeframe is a significant one for both Nashville and Novak himself.

For Nashville, the team is losing its second-line center, one of its most reliable offensive producers, and someone who stands behind only Filip Forsberg on the club’s scoring leaderboard.

For Novak, this injury represents a moderate setback in a crucial platform season.

Although Novak has been undeniably stellar since breaking into the NHL last season, (he scored 17 goals and 43 points in 51 games last year) he doesn’t exactly have the largest sample size of success at the game’s highest level.

Sure, Novak was moderately productive for four seasons as a Minnesota Golden Gopher and hovered around the point-per-game mark at times for AHL Milwaukee, his NHL resume, outside of last season and the start to this year, is relatively thin.

That’s relevant for Novak specifically, as he’s a pending unrestricted free agent and could very well want to cash in on the open market. Missing four-to-six weeks not only costs Novak a chunk of games in which he could again showcase his talent, it also confirms that he will, barring an extension, enter the open market without a single complete NHL season of productivity.

Assuming he gets there, will he still be an in-demand player on the open market? Absolutely, as he won’t even turn 27 until April and has so far scored 12 points in 14 games. If he can put together a near-point-per-game season, he’ll still be hitting free agency as a relatively young, highly productive pivot. Those types of centers almost never hit the open market.

But even though Novak will likely still be in a solid position to hit free agency, the reality is that this injury is a setback in terms of Novak’s ability to reach the apex of his earning power this summer.

Replacing Novak on the Predators’ roster is Stastney, a 23-year-old left-shot defenseman. The Illinois native has been a developmental success story for the Predators, as he’s begun to establish himself as a quality depth defenseman, someone who can hold down a top-four role in the AHL and then survive in the NHL when called upon.

That’s a better-than-expected outcome for a fifth-round pick, and the silver lining to Novak’s injury is that the Predators will get another chance to see what Stastney can do at the NHL level.

With this recall, the Predators are now carrying eight defensemen on their roster, though with Ryan McDonagh out of the lineup Stastney could see some ice time should head coach Andrew Brunette prefer him to Marc Del Gaizo, who brings more offensive touch but a bit less defensive reliability compared to Stastney.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Nashville Predators Extend Tommy Novak

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The Nashville Predators have signed another depth forward to an extension, inking Tommy Novak to a new one-year deal for next season. The contract comes with a salary of $800K, a nice reward for a player who has been in the organization for several years.

Novak, 25, was a third-round pick of the Predators back in 2015, but didn’t make his NHL debut until last season. This year, after lighting up the minor leagues (again), he was given a chance to play meaningful minutes and has scored four goals and 11 points in 20 games.

A contract like this doesn’t guarantee his spot in the lineup moving forward, but does serve as a bit of financial security for the depth forward. This will be his first one-way deal, and keeps him away from Group VI unrestricted free agency, which he would have qualified for this summer.

The Predators have now inked two depth pieces this week, after signing Cole Smith on Monday. These bargain-basement contracts will help them spend elsewhere on the roster, though they likely won’t have a huge impact on the scoreboard.

Given that he will be a UFA when this contract does expire, Novak will certainly be motivated to put up even bigger offensive numbers. Whether he’s given that opportunity remains to be seen.

Nashville Predators Recall Tommy Novak, Kevin Gravel

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02/05/23: Both Gravel and Novak have been recalled from the AHL, in advance of the Predators’ return to the ice after the All-Star break. The move leaves the Predators with 22 out of 23 spots filled on their active roster.

01/27/23: With the Nashville Predators finished their pre-All-Star break schedule, they’ve sent a couple of bodies back to the minor leagues for the time being. Kevin Gravel and Tommy Novak, neither of whom need waivers at the moment, have been reassigned to the Milwaukee Admirals.

Gravel only came up this week when Alexandre Carrier was ruled out, and will likely be right back with the NHL club following the break. The big defenseman played 11:12 last night, recording four shots on goal, two hits, and three blocks. With Carrier missing for at least a month, the Predators defensive depth will be tested, and even more responsibility placed on the top few names.

Novak, meanwhile has been a semi-regular this year, playing in 19 games for the Predators so far. His performance in those games has been excellent, racking up four goals and 11 points despite playing just over 11 minutes a game.

The 25-year-old forward has been an excellent offensive player in the minor leagues for the last few years, but only has 46 NHL appearances to his name. He’ll also qualify for Group VI unrestricted free agency this summer unless he plays in every single remaining game for the Predators this season.

He’ll be back next week when the Predators return to action.

Predators Recall Tommy Novak

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Dec. 27: As expected, the Predators have recalled Novak from Milwaukee today.

Dec. 24: Tommy Novak did well in his first recall of the season but, at least for the time being, he’s off to the minors as the Predators announced that they’ve loaned the center back to Milwaukee of the AHL.

The 25-year-old was recalled back on Monday and picked up a point in each of his three games with a goal and two assists while logging a little over 13 minutes per game.  While it’s a small sample size, that’s a nice improvement compared to the goal and six helpers he had in 27 contests with Nashville last season.  Novak has also been quite productive in the minors with the Admirals this season, collecting 11 goals and 15 assists in 25 contests, making him Milwaukee’s leading scorer.

As Novak was recalled after December 11 and didn’t require waivers to go back down, Nashville was permitted to assign him today even with the roster freeze in effect.  Considering how well he did this past week, there’s a good chance that he’ll be recalled in advance of their game on Tuesday against Dallas.  If that happens, the Predators will save about $12K in cap space with this move.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Novak, Sharks

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The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Alex Ovechkin taking the top spot. The legendary Washington Capitals forward became just the third player in NHL history to score 800 goals, and the third to record 18 consecutive 20+ goal seasons. Gordie Howe, ahead of him on both of those lists, is the target now, as Ovechkin’s next goal will tie him with Mr. Hockey at 801.

Second and third place went to Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres and Mats Zuccarello of the Minnesota Wild, who both had eight points on the week. Thompson, 25, continues what has become one of the most impressive breakouts in recent memory, with 25 goals and 49 points this season. Through his first six seasons of professional hockey, Thompson scored 44 goals at all levels combined (including playoffs). Since the start of 2021-22, he now has 63. Zuccarello meanwhile just continues to impress in Minnesota. The undrafted, 5’8″, 35-year-old playmaker now has 36 points in 31 games and is well on his way to another outstanding campaign.

  • The Nashville Predators have recalled Tommy Novak from the AHL, and he’ll get quite the opportunity. Team reporter Emma Lingan tweets that Novak will center Filip Forsberg and Mikael Granlund while also getting a chance on the powerplay. The 25-year-old has 26 points in 25 games for the Milwaukee Admirals this season after getting his first chance in the NHL during 2021-22.
  • The San Jose Sharks, off today after a 5-2 loss to the Calgary Flames last night, have sent Nick Cicek and C.J. Suess to the minor leagues. With Tomas Hertl likely facing a suspension, it wouldn’t be surprising to see additional moves tomorrow ahead of the rematch in this odd two-game, no-travel series with the Flames.

Nashville Predators Sign Tommy Novak

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After finishing up John Leonard’s deal earlier today, the Nashville Predators have put the finishing touches on another restricted free agent contract. Tommy Novak has signed a one-year, two-way contract worth $750K at the NHL level.

Novak, 25, made his NHL debut this season with the Predators, playing in 27 games for the team and recording seven points. That’s a heck of a rise for a player who had to settle for an AHL contract coming out of college.

Originally a third-round selection of the Predators in 2015, he technically became an unrestricted free agent in 2019 after four years at the University of Minnesota, though had already agreed to an AHL deal with the Milwaukee Admirals by that point. He hit the ground running in the AHL, scoring 42 points as a rookie in 2019-20, and then was even better with the Chicago Wolves the following season, as the Predators shared an affiliate.

With a new deal, his focus will be on making a more regular appearance at the NHL level, and showing he belongs there as a full-time member of the roster. With strong puck skills and advanced playmaking ability, he could fit in as a player who plays limited even-strength minutes but contributes to the powerplay. Whether the Predators are open to something like that on a regular basis remains to be seen, but they now have the player to do it locked up on a league-minimum deal.

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