Forsberg closer to contract with Predators, GM says

MONTREAL -- Filip Forsberg is closer to re-signing with the Nashville Predators than when they offered him an eight-year contract earlier in the offseason, general manager David Poile said Wednesday.

Poile revealed June 23 that the Predators had offered the forward an eight-year contract. Forsberg can become an unrestricted free agent July 13.
"We're talking every day," Poile said after the NHL general managers met in advance of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on Thursday and Friday. "We've got a deadline coming up here [July 13] so obviously it's hugely important to us and I'm sure it's important to them. Both sides are from the beginning saying the right things that we'd like to get this done. Hopefully we just keep moving toward that."
Poile said Forsberg's contract will include both a no-movement clause and a no-trade clause if he re-signs with the Predators.
"We don't love doing that, but Forsberg has made that as part of the negotiations and that will be part of his contract," Poile said.
The holdup, Poile said, is about money, because Nashville is the only team that can offer Forsberg an eight-year contract; any other team that signs him July 13 or after can offer him a maximum of seven years, per the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Forsberg, who has played his entire 10-season NHL career with the Predators, had career bests in goals (42), assists (42) and points (84) in 69 games this season, the last of a six-year, $36 million contract ($6 million average annual value) he signed June 27, 2016.
He is Nashville's all-time leader with 220 goals and is fourth with 469 points.
Forsberg said his goal is to re-sign with Nashville when he spoke to the media May 10, after the Predators were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, swept by the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference First Round.
"We're so close right now to the deadline that we're all going to know pretty soon," Poile said. "We just keep pecking away. We're just putting our best foot forward."
Poile said he's hopeful that the Predators' trade for defenseman Ryan McDonagh on Sunday further entices Forsberg to want to come back to Nashville.
The Predators acquired McDonagh from the Tampa Bay Lightning for forward Grant Mismash and defenseman Philippe Myers. The 33-year-old won the Stanley Cup with the Lightning in 2020 and 2021 and helped them get back to the Stanley Cup Final this season, when they lost to the Colorado Avalanche in six games.
"A lot of our players reached out to me and said how happy they were that we were able to acquire him, and that's going to be a big boost for our team," Poile said. "Filip, I would hope he would be encouraged that that's a move in the right direction for what we're trying to do, and that's win hockey games."
The Predators will be active in the free agent market July 13 if Forsberg doesn't re-sign with them, Poile said.
"We're not going to be shut out," he said. "We're going to have Filip or we're going to do our best to be busy on the 13th. If it's not done by the 12th then he's free to go wherever he wants, so on the 13th that's our opportunity, but the first priority, still our priority, our No. 1 is to try to get him signed."