Insider identifies one of the top pending UFA forwards who will be going to market on July 13th
Some more news to announce on the UFA front, as TSN's Chris Johnston has reported that talks are not progressing towards a contract extension for Filip Forsberg in Nashville and that both sides appear to have dug in on their respective positions and there is not much movement there, if any at all.
The Preds and Forsberg had oiginally begun discussing a contract extension back in March and have kept the lines of communication open, but do not seem to be making any ground. Forsberg indicated at the end of the season that he hopes to remain in Nashville, but as CJ points out, Forsberg may have to prepare himself for the fact that he may be headed to market in July.
Forsberg is coming off of a 6-year, $36M deal worth $6M per season. At just 27 years old, Forsberg has plenty of hockey left and is currently still in the prime of his career and will remain there for at least a couple more seasons.
The Swedish winger absolutely exploded offensively this season, racking up an astounding 84 points in just 69 games. That would put him on pace for a 100-point season over an 82-game span, so yeah.. the kid is going to get PAID.
One thing to consider here is that the Preds may be in the process of completing a sale of the team. Perhaps current ownership has not green lit any big contracts due to the prospective buyer, Bill Haslam, wanting to have a bit of an internal budget, or perhaps he simply wants to monitor spending. Speculative, yes, but also a realistic possibility if the two sides are on the 1 yard line with the sale imminent.
