Nashville Predators re-sign Craig Smith to a two-year contract extension -NHL Update
The Nashville Predators stayed busy and signed on one last player before the expected lockout was due to begin by securing Craig Smith to a two-year contract, worth a reported amount of $4 million.
Predators also signed defenseman Kevin Klein to a five-year contract extension, which is worth $14.5 million according to the Tennessean.com.
“Talk about a guy who goes about doing his job without much fanfare, he’s steady in every game,” Nashville Predators general manager David Poile said talking about Klein said. “He has basically played in our top four the last three or four years. In his own way he has gotten better every year.”
Smith’s previous two-year deal was a two-way contract with an American Hockey League (AHL) salary of $67,500 and an annual cap hit of $900,000 if he played in the National Hockey League (NHL).
The 23-year-old was picked up as the 98th overall back in round-four of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft by the Nashville Predators and has played in just one regular season with the Nashville Predators up until now. Playing mostly with the Waterloo Black Hawks in the United States Hockey League (USHL) and University of Wisconsin in the Western Conference Hockey Association (WCHA), Smith had been a leading scorer for the minor league clubs.
With a 36 point (14 goals, 22 assists) performance this past season in 72 games played, the Nashville Predators believe that he will eventually emerge as one of the best forwards for the team in the upcoming years, which is why they have given him two years to prove his worth.
“This is a leap of faith,” Poile said. “... We’re betting that he’s going to be one of our best offensive players.”
Losing their second best defenseman, Ryan Suter, earlier this offseason, Nashville Predators were not going to give up Klein at any cost, which is another reason why they offered him a huge contract. Craig on the other hand is someone they want to trust and see first before committing to anything big.
It will be exciting to see how both performers play when the time comes.
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