The Nashville Predators (and their new logo, see left) signed unrestricted free agent forward Niclas Bergfors on Sunday afternoon, giving the underachieving forward a new 1-year deal, worth $575,000. Bergfors was not qualified by the Florida Panthers to remain a restricted free agent and their own property, leaving him to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st. In 2011, between Atlanta and Florida, Bergfors played in 72 games, scoring 12 goals and 24 assists for 36 points, ranking him 168th in the league among forwards in scoring. Bergfors finished 120th in 2010, so he took a bit of a tumble, not responding well after the trade from New Jersey to Atlanta in the Ilya Kovalchuk deal.
I think with a defense-first structure in Nashville, somewhat similar to the style of play in New Jersey when Bergfors left, might suit t he 24-year old Swede a little bit more and he may be able to return to building upon his potential.
| Forwards | Defense | Goalies |
| Martin Erat | Ryan Suter | Pekka Rinne |
| Patric Hornqvist | Kevin Klein | Anders Lindback |
| David Legwand | Francis Bouillon | |
| Mike Fisher | Brett Lebda | |
| Niclas Bergfors | ||
| Colin Wilson | ||
| Jordin Tootoo | ||
| Jerred Smithson | ||
| Blake Geoffrion |
The Predators still rank at the bottom for projected cap use in the 2012 season, even with the addition of Bergfors to the team table above. The team now has nine forwards, four defense, two goalies and a buyout on the books for only $35 million. Nashville has to fill $13.3 million just to reach the salary cap floor, but the re-signing of Shea Weber, when it happens, will likely take that number down by 50%, so there should be little fear of the team making it.
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