New Predators GM Chris MacFarland didn’t waste much time acquiring a player he was familiar with, swinging a trade for Jack Drury earlier this week.  He has wasted little time signing him as well.  PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that Nashville has signed the center to a five-year, $22.5MM contract.  The breakdown of the agreement is as follows:

Year
NHL Salary
Signing Bonus
Trade Protection

2026-27
$4MM
$0
N/A

2027-28
$4.625MM
$0
Full NTC

2028-29
$4.625MM
$0
Full NTC

2029-30
$4.625MM
$0
8-team NTC

2030-31
$4.625MM
$0
8-Team NTC

The 26-year-old is coming off matching his career high offensively in terms of points.  He potted a career-best 10 goals this past season along with 17 assists in Colorado while playing in all 82 games.  Drury was also quite successful at the faceoff dot, winning 58.1% of his draws, also a personal best.  In the postseason, he fared relatively well, collecting three goals and two assists in 13 games for the Avalanche while winning more than 61% of his draws.

That performance was good enough for Nashville to part with a pair of decent young players in winger Zachary L’Heureux and center Fedor Svechkov to land Drury, forward Chase Bradley, and a 2029 third-round pick.  Considering that both L’Heureux and Svechkov were first-round picks in 2021, it was a sign that MacFarland felt very strongly that Drury has another level to get to relative to the limited offensive numbers he has put up so far in his five-year career. Drury has posted 30 goals and 52 assists in 268 games between Carolina and Colorado so far.

It’s fair to say that this contract also cements that expectation.  AFP Analytics projected a three-year deal worth around $2.9MM per season, a price tag that this deal beats considerably in terms of money and term.  In doing so, they buy four extra years of team control as he would have been a restricted free agent with salary arbitration rights on Wednesday had this deal not been signed.  Since next season is an RFA year, he was not eligible for any trade protection for that year.

Nashville now has just under $20MM in remaining salary cap space, per PuckPedia.  Defenseman Justin Barron is their only full-time NHL restricted free agent on the roster while center Erik Haula is their most prominent pending unrestricted free agent.  Even with this signing, the Predators have ample cap space to try to get back into the playoff picture next season.