Predators open purse strings to keep team’s nucleus intact
The buzzing fans wouldn’t leave after the final horn, even with the Nashville Predators finally eliminated from their first playoff series.
Trying to make the moment last, the fans gave the Predators a standing ovation after a 2-0 shutout by Detroit in Game 6 of the first round of the playoffs.
Now the usually tightfisted franchise is rewarding those fans by opening its checkbook and keeping key players from leaving as free agents.
“We’d like to stay the course, and the summer was about protecting our assets,” general manager David Poile said.
The Predators gave a $1.8 million raise this offseason to goalie Tomas Vokoun, who won a franchise-best 34 games last season. His new salary will be $3 million.
Steve Sullivan, who was picked up in a trade with Chicago in March, will make a team-high $3.8 million, ending speculation that the Predators might not be able to re-sign the forward.
Nashville also picked up the option on the team’s first-ever draft pick, David Legwand, for $1.775 million.
With defenseman Kimmo Timonen and right wing Scott Walker already signed to multiyear deals, the Predators have locked up the nucleus of their rising young team.
It also means the Predators have four players — Timonen, Walker, Sullivan and Vokoun — who will make at least $2 million this season.
Of course, those salaries won’t be paid unless the NHL owners and players can agree on a new labor contract. The current agreement expires Sept. 15, and most people expect a lengthy lockout.
But the Predators will still be on the low end of the pay scale, and that “works in our favor to adjust to whatever the economics of the new system are going to look like,” Poile said.