Nashville Predators

Ryan Suter is the hottest defenseman on the free-agent market, and it has been confirmed by David Poile of the Nashville Predators that he will test free agency on July 1.

The report released by NHL.com states,

Nashville Predators general manager David Poile said Friday that he believes defenseman Ryan Suter will test unrestricted free agency on July 1, but added that he does not want to trade his rights before that date.

"Unless something changes in the near future, he's going to take a peek at July 1," Poile said during a media conference call following the trade that sent goaltender Anders Lindback to Tampa Bay, according to the Tennessean. "We're going to be in consistent contact with him, and I'm certainly hoping, as he said to me a week ago, that he's not going to make a sudden decision ... and we're going to have some conversations after he has talked to these different teams."

Suter is a rising star in the league and is emerging as one of the NHL's better two-way defenders. 

The 26-year-old currently carries a cap hit of $3.5 million. He is due for a huge payday considering what his partner, Shea Weber, already makes. He likely will earn an average cap hit of $6 to $7 million dollars next season.

Suter has expressed interest in signing a long-term contract so his family can settle down. With that in mind, it is widely expected that Suter will head to the Detroit Red Wings to take up Nicklas Lidstrom's mantle.

The Wings will have tons of money to spend and will look to retool and bolster their roster. Suter could conceivably walk into free agency on July 1 and sign a $60 to $70 million contract to be paid out over 10 seasons.

It is a feasible concept, and Suter would slot right into the Wings' blue line and help fill the massive void left by Lidstrom. Suter is a defenseman who would really help the Wings and is likely their No. 1 target.

The interesting situation Nashville enters now is how it will deal with Shea Weber. Weber is an RFA and will hit UFA status in one year. With Suter leaving, will Weber be traded this summer or will he sign a one-year deal only to become a UFA and bolt next summer?

The Shea Weber situation is undetermined at this point, but the only thing that is for certain is that Ryan Suter likely will not be a Nashville Predator next fall. 

The temptation for the Nashville Predators to trade away the exclusive signing rights to Ryan Suter before he becomes an unrestricted free agent on July 1st will be difficult to resist.

But resist they should—the goal should be retaining Suter at all costs. Unfortunately for Predators fans, it seems likely that the Preds will look to insure themselves against Suter's possible departure and trade his rights.

From Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period:

League exec told us last night he expects Preds to deal Suter rights around draft, 'just like they did with Hamhuis, Hartnell and Timonen'

— Dennis Bernstein (@DennisTFP) June 12, 2012

There will be no shortage of teams looking to sign Suter come July, and as any Philadelphia Flyers fan can tell you, there will be teams willing to trade simply for the rights to exclusive negotiations with the elite defenseman.

Suter finished the 2011-12 season with a career-high 46 points and a plus-minus at plus-15, the second-best mark of his career. He also averaged his most on-ice time per game at 26:30 minutes, and alongside Shea Weber gives the Predators two of the finest defensemen in the game.

Losing him would be a major blow to the Predators' Stanley Cup aspirations moving forward. As currently constructed, this team is built to compete for the Cup every year.

So why give another team a leg-up to sign Suter away? Unless the team is positive it won't be able to retain Suter, why waste valuable negotiating time before the other NHL front offices swoop in and enter the proceedings?

As a Flyers fan, I would love to see the team land exclusive negotiating rights with Suter and sign him before July 1st comes around.

But if I were a Predators' fan, I would want the team to resist the urge to trade those rights and I would be fairly incensed if they were given away.

All good things may inevitably come to an end, but that doesn't mean you need to risk expediting Suter's departure.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets really wanted to have another.

With their season over, Nashville is now faced with two very important questions for the offseason.

They have spent the last few seasons building around defensive cornerstones Shea Weber and Ryan Suter.

Both are about to become free agents. Suter will be unrestricted as of July 1st. Shea Weber will be a restricted free agent at the same time.

The Predators will have the cap space to sign with just over $38 million available.

Nashville still has a few options before they make a commitment with either player. The Preds can try to keep both of them, they can let go of one or both.

Some feel that if the Predators are unable to sign Ryan Suter before he becomes a free agent, then they should let him walk. If that occurs, these same people believe that Weber's time will coming to an end as well.

If they decide to let both go, it would mean a rebuild would begin in Nashville.

The team only needs a few pieces as they are, so letting both defensemen go could be a very large mistake.

Shae Weber seems content in Nashville. More to the point, he genuinely seems to want to win a Cup for Nashville.

This was made apparent when Shea Weber personally helped bring Alexander Radulov back to Nashville for the postseason.

Weber also felt personally offended when Radulov failed to preform.

Ryan Suter, on the other hand, has made it seem to fans that he was pushing off re-signing. Reports have come out that negotiations are now underway and are going well.

Even so, some still feel that Suter is delaying until July 1st. After that date passes, he will be able to receive offers from other teams.

Suter is poised to be one of the biggest names on the free-agent wire this summer. There has already been interest from a few teams, including Nashville's Central Division rivals, the Detroit Red Wings.

With so much of Nashville built around Pekka Rinne and the defensive tandem of Weber and Suter, the Preds will try to keep both.

However, if negotiations between Suter and Nashville begin to take too long, they should let him walk.

They have a few players they picked up at the end of the season, such as Gustad, who have expressed a desire to stay.

Losing Suter will leave a gap on Nashville's defense, but that may be the best course of action.

Lock up Weber and find a young defenseman to replace Suter and become the future star of the Predators.

I am all for team loyalty, and if Ryan Suter wants to return to the Nashville Predators—even at a discounted price—that's what he should do.

But not before he tests the free-agent waters. He owes it to himself to at least see how the market might shake out.

Now, I know that isn't what Predators fans want to hear. They want Suter to re-sign before he becomes a free agent on July 1st. They want the negotiations to be short and sweet, allowing the team plenty of time to concoct its offseason plan with its top priority already on board.

And Nashville fans should take solace in the fact that Suter's agent plans to meet with the Predators front office in the next week, according to Josh Cooper of The Tennessean:

Suter's agent, Neil Sheehy, said on Monday that he and Predators General Manager David Poile "plan on talking sometime this week." Poile is hoping for a meeting with Suter in the near future.

"I'm going to talk to Neil in the next couple of days to firm that up more," Poile said. "That's certainly the goal."

If Suter does hit the open market, he'll be the cream of this year's free agency crop. Already one of the game's best defensemen, he scored 46 points this season and was plus-15 for the year. He'll surely be courted by a number of teams.

But Suter is looking for more than just money. As he noted after the Predators were eliminated in the playoffs this year, a winning culture and stability are the most important factors in his decision (via Craig Custance of ESPN Insider):

"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," Suter told Cooper. "Everything plays into it."

Suter has consistently said that his decision will hinge on whether he believes that the Predators can consistently contend for a Stanley Cup. It doesn't bode well for his evaluation that this might have been their best team in franchise history and they couldn't get out of the second round.

Among the teams that would have a shot at Suter, look for the Red Wings, Minnesota Wild and Philadelphia Flyers to be the top suitors, with another team or two to be determined joining the mix. 

My guess is he'll either remain with the Predators or join the young, promising core of the Philadelphia Flyers and anchor that team's defensive unit.

One way or another, he owes it to himself to test the market and make the best decision for he and his family, wherever he ends up.

Hit me up on Twitter—my tweets pack more punch than Junior dos Santos.

The Nashville Predators are gearing up for an offseason expecting major changes.

Several franchise cornerstones have expiring contracts, and general manager David Poile will be busy negotiating with the likes of Ryan Suter (UFA), Shea Weber (RFA), Alexander Radulov (RFA), Paul Gaustad (UFA), Andrei Kostitsyn (UFA), Sergei Kostitsyn (RFA), Hal Gill (UFA), Jordin Tootoo (UFA) and Colin Wilson (RFA).

Other free agents include Brian McGrattan, Brandon Yip, Francis Bouillon, and Jack Hillen.

With all those players in flux, general knowledge would suggest that a big fraction of pending free agents will be re-signed by their original teams. The restricted free agents may take a while, though, because Weber, Radulov and Sergei Kostitsyn will be looking for quite a pay raise.

Before July 1, Poile should put his focus on seeing what his top-six defense will look like next season. Here is a projected D corps currently:

Shea Weber - Kevin Klein

Roman Josi - Jack Hillen

Ryan Ellis - Jonathon Blum

If that was the top-six group in Nashville next year, the Predators are really missing experience and the defensive shutdown ability that Hal Gill, Ryan Suter and Francois Bouillon has provided to the team.

Assuming that Suter departs, the Predators should pursue a defenseman such as Bryan Allen from Carolina, Sami Salo from Vancouver or Bryce Salvador from New Jersey. Any of those three players are dependable in the defensive zone, and they all have good experience on playoff teams.

Other than addressing the defense, the Predators should also make an effort to retain Colin Wilson and Paul Gaustad. These two players can be major contributors on the top-nine forwards, and Wilson may soon become a bona fide NHL scorer.

Other recent Predators articles by Joseph:

1. Predators Captain Shea Weber feels Betrayed by Radulov

2. Top 3 Predators Players Who Could Star in Taylor Swift Music Videos

The Nashville Predators saw their promising playoff run end prematurely in 2012, with the management team assembling quite a veteran group that looked poised to be in contention for a long playoff drive.

To the surprise of many around the NHL, general manager David Poile invited Russian forward Alexander Radulov to come play for the Predators in the remaining few regular-season games, and allow him to burn off the final year of his entry-level contract with Nashville.

At that time, many teams were complaining about the fact that the NHL has agreed to let Radulov return without any re-entry waivers, but the Predators were excited to add him for the playoffs.

However, things quickly changed, because Radulov did not perform as well as people may have expected in the beginning. His eight-game playoff appearance only saw Radulov score one goal in the first round against the Red Wings.

Worse things happened in the second round where the Predators were facing the Phoenix Coyotes. When the Predators visited the city of Glendale for Game 3, Radulov and teammate Andrei Kostitsyn went to a local bar to enjoy themselves, and failed to comply with team rules about curfew.

As a result, controversy, team chemistry, and focus for Game 3 and 4 quickly turned away from on-ice preparations.

Radulov's teammates were all busy answering questions from the media about their irresponsible teammates missing curfew, and the team had to employ reserve forwards Jordin Tootoo and Matt Halischuk to replace the vacancies opened up after team-initiated suspensions.

Here is some quotes of what Shea Weber had to say on the topic. From teamradio.ca, in an interview with Bob Marjonavich of Team1040:

Obviously, it's a bit of a distraction. It's unfortunate that it happened, and we needed some things to go our way. I think we did a good job of rebounding from that. The guys that stepped in did a good job. It was unfortunate that a couple of guys that were important to us did that, so maybe it caused a bit of a distraction.

When asked about his thoughts personally, and whether he was pissed, he replied:

Yeah. It is what it is. I don't really have a lot to say about it, because there is a bunch of guys that played with him, wanted him back, and felt the same way. When it happened, you feel a little bit betrayed. I'm sure he feels bad about it now, and he looks back on it and wish it didn't happen, but he can't take things back, and we got to move forward.

With the uncertainty looming ahead for the Nashville Predators going into this offseason, Shea Weber had this to say:

The organization has proven that they want to be a cap team. They added a few pieces at the trade deadline, and I am sure they will do whatever it takes to re-sign players or add a few players in July. I obviously enjoy playing with Ryan Suter, and hopefully things work out for us.

For me, I am just trying to relax, and still a little bit shocked that the playoffs is over already. We will get to a point where we cross the bridge, and we'll deal with it when the time comes.

It sounds like Shea Weber was a little bit guarded when Marjanovich asked him about his future with the Predators. I would not be surprised if Shea Weber holds out this year, or demands something really hefty to force the team to re-sign him for one year to allow him to hit unrestricted free agency next July.

This is Joseph Trenton reporting on the Nashville Predators.

After Monday's loss to the Phoenix Coyotes in Game 5, the Nashville Predators have a number of questions surrounding them next year. Whether or not they will blow up their team after the premature exit is still up for debate, but the short answer should be no.

After two years of making it to the second round, Nashville has shown it has the talent on the roster to play well against more established clubs. They managed to take out the playoff powerhouse Detroit Red Wings in five games during round one.

That said, there are a number of factors that still lurk in the foreseeable future for the Preds. Two of the biggest question marks circulate around two of the players they built the team around, Ryan Suter and Shea Weber.

Suter's contract is over and when free agency begins he will be an unrestricted free agent with the ability to talk with any team interested. A player with his skill level will be on a number of radars' this offseason.

It comes down to whether the 27 year-old defenseman want to continue in Nashville or seek a different route to the Stanley Cup. His current $3.5 million contract is not steep, but expect it to go up between $1.5-2 million.

Add that to his skill level, and Ryan Suter can easily pick where he wants to be for next season.

Then there is team captain Shea Weber, who becomes a restricted free agent this summer. If he decides that Nashville is no longer his future, the Preds are going to have to make some serious changes.

Weber had 19 goals with 49 points this season, added to his plus-21 ranking at seasons end and you can bet that there will be many teams watching him over the course of the season.

His contract is a lot steeper than Suter's at $7.5 million, but for teams with the cap space, Weber is the kind of player that is worth that money.

Nashville cap space is hovering around $12.2 million, and barring a cap decrease during this summer's CBA it will either remain there or go up.

There are currently only six teams with more cap space than the Preds, meaning that over the summer, they will have the money to go after the star players who are becoming either type of free agent. It also means that Nashville will have the ability to try and obtain missing pieces through free agency, even though this summer only has a few big names.

They may need to make a big trade or two to address the gaps that have kept them from making the Conference Finals.

Whether it be through trades or the free agent pool, Nashville has shown there is only one or two missing pieces to this team.

With names like Alexander Semin, Ryan Smyth and Zach Parise set to become free agents this summer, Nashville appears to have two pieces that would make it appealing for one of these top players to be interested.

They are a playoff contender just a few moves away from reaching the Stanley Cup Finals and they have a fair amount of room to spend.

That's not to say that Nashville will break the bank in order to obtain one of those players, or even that those players would in fact be interested.

With only two players breaking the 20-plus goal mark, what Nashville needs is an elite scorer. They need a goal scorer who can hit the 30-plus or better, and this year there are only a few who have that ability.

The Predators need to at least attempt to bring one of them to the Nashville.

During the regular season their defense was their strength. They changed a fair amount near the trade deadline in an attempt to be more of a threat in front of the net.

There are a few players on Nashville that will either be used for trades, or allowed to seek their fortunes elsewhere. Two come to mind as players who will be allowed to walk.

Hal Gill and Andrei Kostitsyn are both unrestricted free agents this summer.

Gill was injured for the first round and was practically invisible during the second. He was brought in near the deadline to help take some pressure off the top pairing, but it never seemed to really pan out. It's doubtful that Gill will return next season.

Kostitsyn was reunited with his brother Sergei at the trade deadline as well, and through 19 games amassed four goals and eight assists. He did fairly well during the postseason with three goals, but his selfish actions the night before Game 2 against Phoenix, with Radulov, may be all Nashville needed to see from him.

Nashville started to build this team from the net outwards, and though Pekka Rinne did not have a great second round, he is signed for the next seven years.

They have a strong defensive core, two of which need to be resigned. This, and the possible acquisition of an elite goal scorer, should be all the Predators need.

They definitely do not need to begin a fire sale. They are on the right track, are only missing one or two small pieces and are already contenders.

In dealing with the recent off-ice indiscretions of Alexander Radulov and Andrei Kostitsyn, Nashville Predators general manager David Poile and head coach Barry Trotz were looking at a slim opening between too much and too little punishment.

Assuming Radulov and Kostitsyn are both back in the lineup Monday night after a two-game, team-issued suspension, as Trotz has strongly hinted at, the bosses nailed the matter perfectly.

Eight days have passed since the two leaned-on scorers broke curfew when they were expected to be storing up on rest for Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals versus the Phoenix Coyotes.

After the Predators returned home with a 2-0 series deficit glowering at them, the management properly dealt with the irresponsible parties by dressing 20 players with a more certifiable interest in the team for Games 3 and 4.

Upon splitting those matches, Nashville now faces elimination as the series shifts back to Arizona for the fifth game. But even if this were in a 2-2 knot, the Radulov-Kostitsyn saga has still run its course.

Now is the time for the two reinstated forwards and the rest of the Predators to take to a literally and figuratively fresh sheet at the scene where their hole was dug to begin with.

Now is the time for both Radulov and Kostitsyn to have their reformation tested, especially in case Nashville’s campaign closes on Monday and the two have free agency to look forward to instead of Game 6.

Will they pursue redemption for themselves by way of fresh-legged feistiness with an expressed hunger to redress the team’s stature in the series? Or will they prove they have learned nothing by (however subtly or overtly) mailing in a well-wish to the Coyotes in their conference final confrontation with the Kings?

By keeping Radulov and Kostitsyn out for yet a third game—the first elimination game—Trotz would risk denying them the chance to answer that critical question. In turn, he would deny his higher-up, namely Poile, the chance to make a fair evaluation as to the pending free agents’ commitment and worth to the franchise.

If these players had violated team policies in the midst of helping the Predators go down 3-0 or 3-1 as opposed to 2-0, a sit-down still would have been necessary for at least one game. Every playoff game inevitably brings every team an exponential level of desperation, and any action expressing disregard for the good of the group signals an equal level of punishable nonchalance.

But what’s happened has happened, and enough time has passed for the Predators to stop dwelling on Radulov on Kostitsyn, assuming the two men themselves are willing to move forward.

If in Game 5 they prove they are not and it costs Nashville any more action in the 2011-12 season, then Poile and Co. will know it is time for those players to move out. Such members of the established core as Shea Weber and Ryan Suter, pending free agents themselves, could not ask for a stronger case to stay with the Preds as they continue their climb to contention.