Who stays and who goes? A look at the Nashville Predators' pending free agents

Normally this time of year, NHL teams have tough decisions ahead regarding their pending unrestricted and restricted free agents.

But for the Nashville Predators, there’s not much to decide.

Thanks to the first two years of general manager Barry Trotz’s tenure, the Predators have most of their roster locked up through the 2025-26 season, with many signed to multiyear contracts beyond that. This includes last summer’s blockbuster signing period, where Trotz locked up three players to more than $100 million on multiyear deals.

Not only that, Trotz traded away three players who would have needed new contracts this summer: forwards Gustav Nyquist, Juuso Parssinen and Philip Tomasino.

Though the Predators do not have a long list of players with expiring contracts, they do have a few decisions to make.

Who are the Nashville Predators‘ unrestricted free agents?

Unrestricted free agents are players whose contracts expire at the end of the league year (June 30) and are free to sign elsewhere. For the Predators, this includes defenseman Marc Del Gaizo and winger Jakub Vrana.

Del Gaizo, 25, played 46 games in Nashville, scoring two goals and seven assists as a left-shot defenseman. He played a prominent role late in the season after the Predators were without Roman Josi, Jeremy Lauzon, Luke Schenn and Alex Carrier due to injuries and trades. The team could re-sign Del Gaizo, a 2019 fourth-round pick, to a short-term deal, as Trotz has mentioned being a fan of Del Gaizo’s abilities.

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Vrana, 29, was claimed off waivers on March 6. He played 13 games, scoring two goals and one assist. An older veteran winger who didn’t do much while in Nashville, it seems unlikely the Predators will re-sign Vrana.

Elsewhere in the organization are forwards Kieffer Bellows and Grigori Denisenko and defensemen Jake Livingstone and Mark Friedman. Bellows played 19 games for the Predators this season, scoring two goals and two assists, but spent most of the season with the AHL Milwaukee Admirals.

Denisenko, Livingstone and Friedman did not play for the Predators this season. These players are expected to sign only AHL deals, if they sign at all.

Who are the Nashville Predators’ restricted free agents?

Restricted free agents are players whose contract future is controlled by the Predators. The team can send qualifying offers by the deadline (usually the Monday after the draft) and the players must either sign the contract or opt for arbitration.

This year, that includes winger Luke Evangelista. Though he disappointed in his sophomore season with 10 goals and 22 assists in 32 games, he is clearly a part of the Predators’ future at forward. The 23-year-old will be qualified by the deadline and likely signed to a multiyear deal at some point this summer. Both parties have expressed interest in getting a deal done; it’s just a matter of when.

All other restricted free agents in the organization played exclusively for the Admirals this season: forwards Ondrej Pavel, Jordan Frasca and Jesse Ylonen, and defenseman Luke Prokop. If they sign, they will sign AHL deals only.

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Alex Daugherty is the Predators beat writer for The Tennessean. Contact Alex at jdaugherty@gannett.com. Follow Alex on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, @alexdaugherty1. Also check out our Predators exclusive Instagram page @tennessean_preds.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Who stays and who goes? A look at the Predators’ pending free agents

Who stays and who goes? A look at the Nashville Predators’ pending free agents

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