When it came down to it, the Nashville Predators basically sold the negotiation rights for Dan Hamhuis for Ryan Parent. Considering the fact that the Philadelphia Flyers didn’t even nab Hamhuis, I’d say that’s a decent takeaway.
The team reportedly signed the young defenseman to a two-year, $1.85 million deal according to Kevin Allen of USA Today. Allen says that the salary will be worth $850K in year one and $1 million during the 2011-12 season.
Though Parent was actually originally a Predators first round draft pick (18th overall in 2005), he played his entire NHL career with the Flyers. Nashville traded him along with Scottie Upshall and a couple of high draft picks to Philadelphia in February 2007 in the ill-fated Peter Forsberg swap. Parent’s Flyers-Predators history remains one of the bullet points when I call Philadelphia “Nashville East.”
Parent has been in-and-out of the professional lineup in the last few years, playing a career-high 48 games in 2009-10. It wasn’t a great year for him, though, as he only produced four points and a sub-par -14 rating. He has some size at 6-3 but could add a little mass to that frame (he’s listed at 183 pounds). Don’t expect the 23-year-old to light the hockey world on fire, but he might end up being a solid fit in Nashville and he came at a reasonable price.