Nino Niederreiter signs a $8 million deal in free agency
One of the best remaining free agent forwards is off the market.
HockeyFeed
According to a report from NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, free agent forward Nino Niederreiter has signed a two year contract with the Nashville Predators worth $4 million per season.
Check it out:
UPDATE: And now the deal has been confirmed by the team.
The 29 year old Niderreiter put up 24 goals and 44 points in 75 games with the Carolina Hurricanes this past season, but was not tendered an offer from the team following the season. In total the Swiss forward has 181 goals and 187 assists in 732 career games split between the New York Islanders, Minnesota Wild and Hurricanes. At 6'2", 220 pounds and with excellent skating ability, Niederreiter is an excellent fore-checking with decent touch around the net. He's not a play driver by any means, but with the right linemates and given the right assignment he can be a very valuable forward. He's the kind of player who coaches love because of his combination of size, skill and work ethic.
Predators GM David Poile has been busy this offseason, not only signing Niederreiter but also re-signing star forward Filip Forsberg, acquiring Ryan McDonagh from the Tampa Bay Lightning and signing free agents Kevin Lankinen, Mark Jankowski and Zach Sanford. Suffice it to say, the Preds don't look prepared to go into the full scale rebuild that a lot of fans and analysts saw coming when there was fear of Forsberg leaving as a free agent. And with Vezina candidate Juuse Saros in goal, I can't really blame Poile. When you have solid goaltending every night, you have a chance to win every game. Period. Now, do the Preds have the high end talent in the rest of their lineup to get the job done? That remains to be seen, but I believe that when you have elite level netminding, you have to do everything you can to get yourself into the playoffs. Because once you're in and your goalie gets hot... who knows?
As for where Niederreiter fits in, look for him to fit into a top six forward spot alongside Forsberg, Matt Duchene, Ryan Johansen and Mikael Granlund. Add Saros in goal and superstar Roman Josi on the back end and the Preds have a sneaky good roster heading into the season.
