Nashville Predators sign Pekka Rinne to huge seven-year, $49 million extension -NHL News Update
Nashville Predators made sure that their veteran goalie will be sticking around with them for a majority of his remaining years in the National Hockey League (NHL) by signing him on to a major contract extension for seven-years, worth a whopping, $49 million,
announced the team late Friday night, November 5, 2011.
Agreeing on mutual terms, Nashville Predators general manager, David Poile, feels that Rinne is a irreplaceable part of the team and can continue playing with an easy mind now.
"Pekka signing for this many years, I think it gives a terrific opportunity to be successful", Poile said.
Along with their goalie, Nashville will now be focusing on their defenseman, who are on one-year contracts and will expire after the end of this season on July 1, 2012.
"We have every intent of signing both Shea and Ryan, and we're going to do everything we can to make that happen. … These guys are sort of home-grown", Nashville Predators chairman, Tom Ciggaran, said. "They're just people that we want to have around to
be the core of a Stanley Cup-winning team for years to come".
Currently, with the help of Rinne, Nashville stands at the eight number position in the Western Conference and can easily breakthrough to the sixth or fifth due to having 14 points and below the number five Colorado Avalanche by a single point.
Nashville at the moment is 6-4-2 and actually so far in the regular season has been better on the road as compared to their record at home.
The contract is a big boost from his previous two-year deal with the Predators, which was for $6.8 million, with a annual salary cap hit of $3.4 million.
Now, Rinne will be making a maximum and minimum of $7 million annually and will continue playing for the Nashville Predators, the team which drafted him as the 258th overall during round eight of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, well through the 2018-2019
regular season.
At the moment, Rinne and the Nashville Predators have the next three games on the road, which make the thrill of watching one of the best goalies in the league even more exciting.
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