Confirmed Signing with Link: [NSH] Mattias Ekholm re-signs with the Predators (4 years, $6.25M AAV)

[banks]

Dave Poile still having a job is absolutely insane

He's done nothing for the press the last half decade. Set them up to be mediocre for another half decade

With Holland atleast he has some success for the Oilers and with Lou he's still a top GM

Not sure why this dinosaur is still employed when the team results aren't there

He's one of the best GMs in the league. He's far from a dinosaur, and he does exactly what the owner wants. They wanted to be competitive every year, and they have been for their entire history. The mandate was to push for a win for a brief window, and it resulted in a Cup final appearance and a president's trophy.

They may seem a bit rudderless at the moment. But that's the result of going for a championship in 2016-2019. I'm betting Poile even explained to the owners that this outcome was likely, Cup or not. It's a re-tool now, to be headlined by Askarov in net.

 

[hamzarocks]

He's one of the best GMs in the league. He's far from a dinosaur, and he does exactly what the owner wants. They wanted to be competitive every year, and they have been for their entire history. The mandate was to push for a win for a brief window, and it resulted in a Cup final appearance and a president's trophy.

They may seem a bit rudderless at the moment. But that's the result of going for a championship in 2016-2019. I'm betting Poole even explained to the owners that this outcome was likely, Cup or not. It's a re-tool now, to be headlined by Askarov in net.

In his entire tenure, he hasn't been able to bring in elite offensive forwards. The team's identity is in need of a change. Guys who were 60-70 point players fall off when they join Nashville (Turris, Duchene, RyJo).

Building from the net out + great D has shown not to work for Nashville when they had a top 5 goalie in the league in Rinne, and prime Norris contending guys like Josi(still there), Weber, Suter, Subban lining up their defense core.

Nashville needs to draft/trade/sign a ppg center who can drive play. Ryan Johansen was supposed to be this when they traded for him but he's fallen off heavily and Poile has stuck with him and the other underperformers.

He has only won more than 2 series once in his entire tenure (2017 final run).

 

[banks]

In his entire tenure, he hasn't been able to bring in elite offensive forwards. The team's identity is in need of a change. Guys who were 60-70 point players fall off when they join Nashville (Turris, Duchene, RyJo).

Building from the net out + great D has shown not to work for Nashville when they had a top 5 goalie in the league in Rinne, and prime Norris contending guys like Josi(still there), Weber, Suter, Subban lining up their defense core.

Nashville needs to draft/trade/sign a ppg center who can drive play. Ryan Johansen was supposed to be this when they traded for him but he's fallen off heavily and Poile has stuck with him and the other underperformers.

He has only won more than 2 series once in his entire tenure (2017 final run).

That's you're opinion. And it may be valid. But Poile and the owners in Nashville don't agree with you. And he certainly shouldn't be fired for not agreeing with your subjective and debatable analasys of a team you're not even a fan of.

 

[57special]

This trade seems to have taken Brodin's as it's comparable, and has ignored all the insane deals signed since then. Ekholm is the sort of Dman that everyone has a place for.

 

[Soundgarden]

Great deal in a vaccum, but I'm curious what the plan is in Nashville

I think it's pretty obvious what the plan is for Nashville, we just got rid of like 6 aging, regressing, expensive players and replaced them with younger guys. We still need good experienced vets lest we turn into Buffalo or Edmonton.

Dave Poile still having a job is absolutely insane

He's done nothing for the press the last half decade. Set them up to be mediocre for another half decade

With Holland atleast he has some success for the Oilers and with Lou he's still a top GM

Not sure why this dinosaur is still employed when the team results aren't there

First off, no. If you're gonna say Poile's done nothing for Nashville you might want move the goal posts so they don't cover our Stanley Cup final run. We've made the playoffs each of the last five years, and he's set us up well with our prospect pool our last 3 drafts.

Did you really just mention the Oilers as a team 23 should be emulating? I'd rather not suck for more than a decade like Edmonton, Toronto or Buffalo and then pray we get two franchise altering players.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

In his entire tenure, he hasn't been able to bring in elite offensive forwards. The team's identity is in need of a change. Guys who were 60-70 point players fall off when they join Nashville (Turris, Duchene, RyJo).

Building from the net out + great D has shown not to work for Nashville when they had a top 5 goalie in the league in Rinne, and prime Norris contending guys like Josi(still there), Weber, Suter, Subban lining up their defense core.

Nashville needs to draft/trade/sign a ppg center who can drive play. Ryan Johansen was supposed to be this when they traded for him but he's fallen off heavily and Poile has stuck with him and the other underperformers.

He has only won more than 2 series once in his entire tenure (2017 final run).

This is far from a simple thing when you don't have the luxury of being in bottom 5 pick territory for multiple years or have them drop in your lap because they wore your jammies when they were kids.

 

[abo9]

That's you're opinion. And it may be valid. But Poile and the owners in Nashville don't agree with you. And he certainly shouldn't be fired for not agreeing with your subjective and debatable analasys of a team you're not even a fan of.

Also, hasn't Poile worked with limited resources for most of his tenure? Not sure if it still applies now though

 

[Big Daddy Cane]

The contract he's playing under doesn't have a NMC or NTC. If Poile trades him after signing this deal that has a NMC that would be cold blooded. Like Paul Holmgren trading Jeff Carter + Mike Richards right before their NMCs kicked in.

A trade clause in an extension can be applied to a current contract (11.8 (b)). The player has to be of eligible age and both sides have to sign off on it. If a player has enough bargaining power to get that protection in the first year, it would be unusual for the contract to be accepted without that commitment from the club. It defeats the purpose of the clause in the first place: controlling the destination or at least the range of them.

 

[StreetHawk]

This trade seems to have taken Brodin's as it's comparable, and has ignored all the insane deals signed since then. Ekholm is the sort of Dman that everyone has a place for.

Ekholm will be 32 at the start of this deal. That’s a big factor in the AAV. That’s basically the entire back half of the big deals that guys like Carlson sand OEL signed when they were 28.

OEL overall AAV is $8.25 but his final 4 years his cash payment averages $7.25 mill.

 

[PAZ]

Great deal, have to imagine there is a NMC/NTC attached to this though as he definitely took a discount to stay.

 

[PredsV82]

Great deal in a vaccum, but I'm curious what the plan is in Nashville

Make the playoffs, then win 16 more... same as everyone else.

People who have at most a superficial idea of what's going on in Nashville are gonna be surprised. Those who think jettisoning Ellis and Arvidsson means we are in a rebuild are mistaken. Losing both of them is addition by subtraction.

 

[PREDy 4 the Cup]

This is a good deal for Nashville. Now, they just have to stop playing him with Dante Fabbro.

Why is that?

 

[ViktorBaeArvidsson]

I love Ekky and love the deal, but I really don’t know why we’re extending him when you could trade him for solid assets because we’re basically always going to be battling for a 1st Round exit with our current roster. But what ever, just gotta hope our young forwards come up and become the guys we hoped Turris, Duchene, and Johansen would be. I’m at the mindset we just gotta blow everything up cause we’re nowhere near a Tampa, Vegas, Colorado or even a Florida, the only reason we made the playoffs last season is due to Saros saving everything, and who knows if he can do it again.

 

[Advanced stats]

Make the playoffs, then win 16 more... same as everyone else.

People who have at most a superficial idea of what's going on in Nashville are gonna be surprised. Those who think jettisoning Ellis and Arvidsson means we are in a rebuild are mistaken. Losing both of them is addition by subtraction.

It's funny though, even Nashville fans can't decide what they're doing let alone determine what direction they're going.

You imply that they're aiming for the playoffs and other replies to this exact same post say that they're selling off players and keeping Ekholm to guide the rebuild.

No wonder outsider fans are confused.

 

[BKarchitect]

I love Ekky and love the deal, but I really don’t know why we’re extending him when you could trade him for solid assets because we’re basically always going to be battling for a 1st Round exit with our current roster. But what ever, just gotta hope our young forwards come up and become the guys we hoped Turris, Duchene, and Johansen would be. I’m at the mindset we just gotta blow everything up cause we’re nowhere near a Tampa, Vegas, Colorado or even a Florida, the only reason we made the playoffs last season is due to Saros saving everything, and who knows if he can do it again.

If you traded him he would have been a pending UFA…you would have gotten rental prices in return and while there is zero doubt that would have been a 1st rounder and more - that’s still selling what Ekholm brings for 50 cents on the dollar.

Ekholm isn’t getting any younger true but he’s aging rather finely…he’s a smart player who doesn’t rely on explosiveness or intense physical contact that can cause wear and tear - I’m willing to bet if things aren’t progressing by the 22-23 season you’ll be able to recoup more on him then, with 3 more years locked in than you would now as a rental even at a year or two older.

This extension seems like an absolute no-brainer to me, as a non Preds fan. I fail to see the downside.

 

[Bringer of Jollity]

It's funny though, even Nashville fans can't decide what they're doing let alone determine what direction they're going.

You imply that they're aiming for the playoffs and other replies to this exact same post say that they're selling off players and keeping Ekholm to guide the rebuild.

No wonder outsider fans are confused.

They're doing both. The org is always trying to make the playoffs. They have also been turning older and declining assets into picks and younger players/prospects for the past few seasons (e.g. Subban, Ellis, Arvidsson, etc...). While we would undoubtedly get a 1st and a prospect of some kind if we went the trade route with Ekholm, our defense is pretty young on the whole (Carrier, Fabbro, Myers, Davies, Farrance, etc...) and leaving Josi as the only other vet to carry/mentor them is iffy with his health/concussion history. That aside, I don't think Ekholm is really interested in playing elsewhere and Poile has rewarded/honored that type of loyalty in the past.

 

[PredsV82]

It's funny though, even Nashville fans can't decide what they're doing let alone determine what direction they're going.

You imply that they're aiming for the playoffs and other replies to this exact same post say that they're selling off players and keeping Ekholm to guide the rebuild.

No wonder outsider fans are confused.

Nobody who is a regular poster on our board thinks we are in sell off/rebuild mode. Some may think we should be, but we arent. Some may expect us to do poorly and sell assets at the deadline, and we might. But the expectations right now are that we are a borderline playoff team. We actually played better when guys like Ellis and Arvy were out injured last year.

But either way, we already have Josi signed for many years, so Ekholm wouldn't be needed just to "oversee the rebuild"

 

[57special]

Ekholm will be 32 at the start of this deal. That’s a big factor in the AAV. That’s basically the entire back half of the big deals that guys like Carlson sand OEL signed when they were 28.

OEL overall AAV is $8.25 but his final 4 years his cash payment averages $7.25 mill.

Didn't realize he was that old...this is a good deal for him, then.

 

[Drake1588]

What a hellaciously team-friendly deal on both term and dollars. This is really good news for the Preds and their fans. Kind of an odd move from him, but when you're happy and both sides are ready to do it, then why wait I suppose.

(EDIT: I have to admit, I thought he was younger too. This makes more sense with his age in mind.)

 

[McJedi]

Nice player. Nice deal. Good job Preds management.

Bonus, I don’t need to see another stupid Byram for Ekholm proposal.

 

[AtlantaWhaler]

I'm not thrilled as a Preds fan tbh, I'd rather Poile be re-couping assets for Ekholm and Forsberg but he's more than happy to keep us in our current state of complete averageness to mediocrity.

Great deal though.

Ek and Forsberg (pending attitude) are the pieces you keep. There are other sources for the mediocrity.

This is a good deal.

 

[BruinsBtn]

That's a great deal in every way. Congrats Nashville fans.

 

[Drumman44]

Great deal for a contending team.
Not sure what the Preds are doing in terms of strategy but hey

 

[Soundgarden]

Great deal for a contending team.
Not sure what the Preds are doing in terms of strategy but hey

Not being Buffalo, Arizona, Edmonton or Toronto

 

[PredsV82]

Dave Poile still having a job is absolutely insane

He's done nothing for the press the last half decade. Set them up to be mediocre for another half decade

With Holland atleast he has some success for the Oilers and with Lou he's still a top GM

Not sure why this dinosaur is still employed when the team results aren't there

Wat??