Stamkos sign a 4-year deal with Predators after he quit Lightning
“Unique experience for me” after 16 seasons at Tampa Bay; Nashville also includes Marchessault, Skjei in Cup push
By Robby Stanley
Aug 02 2024 03:01 am
Marchessault signed a five-year, $27.5 million contract with the Predators ($5.5 million AAV) after he and the Vegas Golden Knights were unable to reach an agreement on a contract. An original member of the Golden Knights, the 33-year-old said he was disappointed he could not re-sign with Vegas, but told TSN, “I turned the page an hour ago. We move on. A new chapter, a new challenge for me and my family.”
Marchessault who was the Conn Smythe Trophy winner as the MVP of the playoffs in 2023 during which he was instrumental in helping to help the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup and 70 points (42 goals and 27 assists) in the last 82 games of the season. He also scored 4 points (two goals 2 aids) during seven games in the playoffs. He has scored 487 points (230 goals 257 assists) in 638 games during the regular season for teams like the Columbus Blue Jackets, Lightning, Florida Panthers and Golden Knights with 76 of them (36 goals 40 assists) in the 102 playoff games.
“To me, this is an organization win the moment,” Trotz said. “But we aren’t playing the game on paper. Our lineup is better however, we need to become a better team. Simple and straightforward. As you saw last year, it took a bit of time. This year it’s going to take a bit longer for some players. We have players from several groups that don’t exactly perform in the same manner, however I believe that their DNA permits them to play how we would like them to play. We’ll need to give them some time before we’ll take our feet off the field and on to training camp. I’m extremely excited about that.”
Trotz stated that his top priority in the free market was to fill the hole in the lineup which was created when Nashville dealt defensive player Ryan McDonagh to Tampa Bay on May 21.
“A McDonagh is a great defensive player, and B, McDonagh is a leader,” Trotz said of McDonagh. “If you had to make a decision on which position to put my focus I told him I had to get the back side fixed because I informed the players that I was going to fix this.”
The Predators believe they achieved that with Skjei who had signed for a seven-year contract worth $49 million ($7 million in AAV). The 30-year-old scored an NHL record-setting 47 total points (13 goals and 34 assists) in the 80 games played by the Carolina Hurricanes last season and nine points (one goal 8 assists) during 11 games in the playoffs.
The team was selected from the New York Rangers in the first round (No. 28,) from the 2012 NHL Draft, Skjei has 247 points (68 goals with 171 assists) in 609 regular season games for both the Hurricanes and Rangers and has 25 of them (seven goals 18 assists) in 76 playoff games.
The Predators also signed defenceman Alexandre Carrier to a three-year $11.25 million deal ($3.75 million average annual value) and signed goalie Juuse Saros to an eight-year $61.92 million deal ($7.74 million in AAV) that begins in 2025-26.
Saros 29 is still on an eight-year 20 million-dollar contract ($5 million in AAV) which he was signed by Nashville on August. 16 2021. He had a 35-24-5 record with a 2.86 goals-against-average and .906 save percentage in 64 games during last season. He also went 2-4 with an average of 2.02 GAA as well as a .900 saved percentage over six postseason games.
Carrier 27, 27, scored twenty points (four goals and 16 assists) in the last 73 games and 3 points (one goal and 2 aids) at three postseason games.
Wedgewood was signed to a 2-year three-million dollar contract worth $3 million ($1.5 million in AAV) in order to become Saros the backup. He played 16-7-5 and had the 2.85 GAA and .899 save percentage in 32 games during the regular season (28 games played) in the Dallas Stars last season and was an 2.28 GAA and .862 save percentage in three games from the bench during the playoffs (no decision) which was his sole NHL playoffs experience.
A third-round selection (No. 85) of the New Jersey Devils in the 2010 NHL Draft, the 31-year-old is 48-48-22, with an 2.98 GAA and .899 save percentage over 130 NHL regular-season games (114 starts) for the Devils, Arizona Coyotes and Stars.
Goalie Yaroslav Askarov chosen from Nashville as the No. 11 selection in the 2020 NHL Draft, will also compete for the backup position in training camp. He has played in three NHL games.
The Predators believe that their moves to the free-agent market has given them the elements to be competitive for the postseason.
“I’ve played on championship teams before at Tampa,” Stamkos said. “You look at the teams that have been winning recently have a mixture of a very good goalie as well as an elite defenseman, and a few elite forwards. Even before today’s new signings Nashville had checked all the boxes. Naturally, a great goalie. (Defenseman) Roman Josi is a great speaker for himself. There’s [forwards Filip Forsberg, Ryan O’Reilly and Gustav Nyquist] This line was dynamite this year. They’ve got a good mixture of young players too.”
The Predators haven’t yet decided which position Stamkos, Marchessault and Skjei will play in the lineup, however Stamkos and Marchessault are likely to be top six forwards. Skjei might play alongside Josi on Nashville’s top two.
“We’re extremely excited to join this incredible brand,” Stamkos said. “We witnessed what transpired today, along with other signings. It’s a great day to be an Nashville Predators fan. I am very, very happy to be a part of that.”