Predators, Filip Forsberg working on contract extension
The Predators' main priority this offseason is re-signing forward and leading scorer Filip Forsberg, whose entry-level contract is expiring after three years.
Forsberg wants to return to Nashville, and as a pending restricted free agent, there's no true threat of him leaving. It's a matter of reaching agreeable terms on an extension, which Forsberg and the Predators are continuing to work on.
"I think with Filip and (pending restricted free agent forward Calle) Jarnkrok, if the figures were right, we'd be very excited to enter into longer-term contracts with them," Predators general manager David Poile said. "It's all about the fit for each and every player, and if we can get that right fit for them and for us, I think multiyear contracts would be great."
According to agent J.P. Barry, who represents Forsberg, the two sides have maintained a regular dialogue and are "zeroing in on a term that we both want to work on."
"There's a range of contracts out there for players this age," Barry said during a recent phone interview. "The longer-term ones, there's several at the five-, six-year mark and there's only a couple that go as far as eight, so we're trying to pinpoint the range that's the most comfortable to both of us."
In regards to other NHL players that he views as comparable to Forsberg, Barry said that he is "looking at those forwards that had elite numbers coming out of the entry level."
Using that criteria, two contracts that could be similar to what Forsberg may command are those of Blue Jackets forward Brandon Saad (six years, $36 million) and Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko (eight years, $60 million), both of which were signed last summer with both players, like Forsberg, at the end of their entry-level contracts.
Saad, 23, scored 52 goals and 126 points for the Blackhawks during his entry-level contract before being traded to the Blue Jackets last June. Tarasenko, 24, scored 66 goals and 135 points during his, including 37 goals and 73 points in the final year. In the past two seasons, Forsberg, who will be 22 at the start of next season, has totaled 59 goals and 127 points, tying the Predators' single-season goal-scoring record this season with 33.
Opinions differ on how much Forsberg could be worth. An NHL agent contacted by The Tennessean estimated that the annual average value (AAV) of Forsberg's next contract would land between $5 million and $6 million, depending on its length. Another agent told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman in his latest "30 Thoughts" column that it would fall between Saad's $6 million AAV and Tarasenko's $7.5 million AAV.
What's clear, though, is that Forsberg sees himself happily remaining with the Predators.
"I love being here in Nashville, love everything with the city and I really love what we've got going on here (with) the team," he said last month. "There's no other place that I want to be in."
Reach Adam Vingan on Twitter @AdamVingan.
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Filip Forsberg's past two seasons
Total goals: 59 (first on Predators, T-14th in NHL)
Total points: 127 (first on Predators, 26th in NHL)
Goals this past season: 33 (led Predators, tied team's single-season record)
