Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Koistinen Awarded One Year

The Nashville Predators retained the services of defenseman Ville Koistinen, by having their negotiations setttled through arbitration. On Tuesday, the arbitrator decided that Koistinen's deal will be for one year at $700,000.

Koistinen, 26, played in 48 games for the Predators last season, registering 17 points (4G, 13A) and he was a +13. If the Preds can get him going at his full potential for all 82 games, he could come out of nowhere this season and become a very good NHL defenseman and a very solid pool pick. He could be a good one to take as your last defenseman, as he may surprise a lot of people.

ForwardsDefenseGoaltenders
J-P DumontRyan SuterDan Ellis
Jason ArnottDan Hamhuis
Alexander RadulovShea Weber
Martin EratVille Koistinen
David LegwandGreg de Vries
Vern FiddlerGreg Zanon
Radek Bonk
Jordin Tootoo
Scott Nichol
Jared Smithson
Jed Ortmeyer

The Predators now have 18 players ready to play full-time in the coming year at a reasonable cap hit of $39.4 million. The team also has plenty of young talent still coming up the ranks to fill some of the gaps, including Pekka Rinne in goal, Jonathan Blum & Cody Franson on the blueline and Antti Pihlstrom up front. They might need them too, since the free agent pool has run dry of great talent.

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