The Nashville Predators have now locked up one of their key restricted free agents by signing Patric Hornqvist to a new 1-year deal, said to be worth $9.25 million over the duration, which works out to be a $3.083 million cap hit per season. This leaves the Predators with only one more key RFA left to sign in this off-season, Cody Franson, and then the team should have a rounded out feel by the time training camp rolls around.
Hornqvist really came out of the shadows in the 2010 season, scoring 30 goals and adding 21 assists in 80 games for the Predators, in his first full season with the club. His 51 points was good enough for 115th in pool scoring, 86th among forwards and will likely be a desired player for most hockey pools as a player for growth.The layout of the Predators forwards has changed in this off-season, adding some more speed in Matthew Lombardi and Sergei Kostitsyn, which may have some benefits to players like Hornqivst, but neither one of these additions are known for their consistency, so I wouldn't be putting a great deal of stock in improvements, because of new talent.
| Forwards | Defense | Goalies |
| Matthew Lombardi | Shea Weber | Pekka Rinne |
| Patric Hornqvist | Ryan Suter | |
| Steve Sullivan | Francis Bouillon | |
| Martin Erat | Kevin Klein | |
| J-P Dumont | Ryan Parent | |
| David Legwand | ||
| Joel Ward | ||
| Marcel Goc | ||
| Sergei Kostitsyn | ||
| Jordin Tootoo | ||
| Colin Wilson | ||
| Jarred Smithson | ||
| Wade Belak |
I now have the Predators with a projected roster of 19 players, no buyouts or penalties on the books, at an annual salary cap hit of $45.5 million. The Predators will need to fill a couple defenseman spots and the back-up goalie role, to which they have some talent in their ranks to work with, some of which are already signed on. There are also a couple of bubble veteran players not listed, due to minimal NHL games, but they should be able to get a good run in camp. The Predators are in great shape going into camp.
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