Welcome to the offseason of uncertainty for the Predators. Nashville has 15 restricted and unrestricted free agents -- many of whom are core type players.
The Predators must re-sign defenseman Ryan Suter, a pending unrestricted free agent, and defenseman Shea Weber, a restricted free agent, as well as decide what to do with right wing Alexander Radulov and fill in the necessary pieces to keep Nashville contending. All easy, right?
Suter's situation is especially interesting. The defenseman had been vocal about his desire for the Predators to make moves to increase the productivity of the roster. Nashville did that by making three trades around the deadline period. It also brought Radulov back from Russia. Now, Suter must determine if this is enough for him.
On the open market, Suter could command upward of $7 million. Elite defensemen at his age (27) don't come around too often. He's coming off a career year in which he set highs in points and minutes played per game.
At the same time, Suter, along with Weber, has helped turn the Predators into a competitive outfit. This season was the first year since 2006-07 that Nashville believed it had a legitimate shot at the Stanley Cup. If the Predators can keep Suter and bring back some of those pieces, there's no reason to believe they can't be elite again next season.
NOTES, QUOTES
--Alexander Radulov divulged something interesting as the Predators departed Nashville for the offseason: He's injured. The forward, who returned from the KHL for the last nine games of the regular season and the playoffs, said that he had an injured knee that required surgery. Radulov was suspended for Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinal for a violation of team rules. "I got an offer to go to World Championships, but ... I just want to get healthy first because I don't have a contract," Radulov said. "It's a difficult situation. ... I just want to get healthy and go from there ... get stronger, work on my game, just be better, you know? It was (all) season. It wasn't bad pain, but I could feel it. It doesn't bother my game. ... It's all fine." Radulov won the KHL MVP award May 23.
--Not often can the small-market Predators beat the big-market New York Rangers in a popularity contest. But some creative online marketing enabled Pekka Rinne to defeat Henrik Lundqvist in the quarterfinal for the EA Sports NHL13 cover vote. Rinne will face John Tavares of the Islanders in the semifinal. "I think with Lundqvist being in the New York media market, with his team being in the playoffs, with some of the notoriety he's been able to gain in Sweden with a lot of the games he's played for the international team (winning an Olympic gold medal in 2006), I think it appeared at the start that the deck was maybe stacked a little bit against us," Jay Levin, the Predators' manager of interactive marketing, told Fox Sports Tennessee. "I guess in a fan voting like this, it's hard to say an upset one way or another, but when you consider a lot of those factors, I think it appeared as if Lundqvist maybe had an easier route."
QUOTE TO NOTE
"Wherever I sign I want to be there for the rest of my career, and that affects my family, my wife, my kid (and) if we have more kids. Everything plays into it." -- D Ryan Suter
ROSTER REPORT
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER: G Pekka Rinne was Nashville's best player at key moments. At the start of the year when the Predators were mostly full of rookies and second-year players, Rinne shined with save percentages of .922 in October and .931 in November. When the Predators put on their playoff push in January and February, he had a .935 save percentage. Though his numbers were down in 2011-12, with a 2.39 goals-against average and .923 save percentage, Rinne kept the Predators in games they should have been out of and oftentimes won those contests. He led the NHL with 43 wins.
MOST DISAPPOINTING PLAYER: LW Sergei Kostitsyn's 43 points weren't all that bad, but he was counted on to lead Nashville's offense for a second straight season. His numbers dipped across the board, and his two points in 10 playoff games earned him a spot on the fourth line in Game 5 against Phoenix. Kostitsyn had played on the top unit for most of the season.
BIGGEST NEEDS: The Predators need to re-sign all their core players and keep some of their trade-deadline additions, such as Hal Gill and Paul Gaustad. This group, with a few extra fill-in pieces, could compete again. The question is whether Ryan Suter and Alex Radulov will return. If those two come back, the Predators should have the type of team -- again -- that could look to make a deep run in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
FREE AGENT FOCUS: The Predators have 15 combined restricted and unrestricted free agents. Re-signing Ryan Suter, Alex Radulov and Shea Weber is a must. Nashville also would probably like to bring back 6-foot-7, 241-pound Hal Gill and faceoff specialist, Paul Gaustad, who won 58.8 percent of his draws after coming to Nashville in a deal at the trade deadline. Nashville is likely to let Andrei Kostitsyn walk and faces a hard decision on his brother, Sergei, who has just seven points in 22 career playoff games with the Predators. Restricted free agent G Anders Lindback, 24, is likely to be traded, with Rinne recently signed to a seven-year contract extension.
PLAYER NOTES
--There has been little news to this point from D Ryan Suter on his intentions or how he wants to proceed with free agency. Suter will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1 if he and the Predators can't come to terms. His agent, Neil Sheehy, said he wanted to give Suter two weeks to cool off before making some sort of move. "Right now I want to honor Ryan's request to unwind for two weeks," Sheehy said. "I want to take two weeks to unwind, and it hasn't been two weeks."
--The Predators said they would like to bring back physical LW Jordin Tootoo. When asked if he would like Tootoo to return, general manager David Poile said, "Certainly." Tootoo set a career high last season with 30 points. He had issues cracking the playoff lineup after Nashville made several moves around the trade deadline that boosted forward depth. Tootoo played in three playoff games. "His cheese got moved in the wrong direction," Poile said. "He got to play less and less and then he got out of the lineup. He's unrestricted, so he controls what he wants to do. More than him needing to hear from us, we need to hear from him."
