The Nashville Predators have re-signed centre Mikael Granlund to a four-year contract worth $20 million.
While Granlund hasn’t been able to come close to replicating his 69-point 2016-17 or his 67-point 2017-18, he is still a utile centre and a versatile playmaker with excellent vision and hands.
Granlund, 29, has played 130 games with the Predators since being acquired from the Minnesota Wild in February, 2019. In 2020-21 — on a one-year deal worth $3.75 million — he recorded 13 goals and 14 assists for 27 points in 51 games, skated a career-high 19:28, and won 51.8 per cent of his face offs.
The contract will see Granlund with the re-tooling Predators through 2024-25. The Predators finished 31-23-2 in the Central Division last season, but lost in the first round to the Carolina Hurricanes.
He hit the market very briefly, but signed the new deal less than an hour after free agent frenzy began. It didn’t look like Predators’ GM David Poile wanted any more turnover up front, given he already lost key contributors in Viktor Arvidsson in a trade with the Los Angeles kings and had Calle Jarnkrok selected by the Seattle Kraken in the NHL Expansion Draft.
Originally selected by the Wild ninth overall in the 2010 Entry Draft, Granlund has 124 goals and 255 assists for 379 points in 591 NHL games, and 29 points in 55-career playoff games.