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Overcoming Lebda: Nashville signs Niclas Bergfors to one-year deal

Ottawa Senators v Florida Panthers

SUNRISE, FL - MARCH 10: Niclas Bergfors #11 of the Florida Panthers skates against the Ottawa Senators at the BankAtlantic Center on March 10, 2011 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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Predators GM David Poile was able to keep busy this afternoon. His deal with Toronto earlier today to clear out salary space that sent defenseman Cody Franson and injured forward Matt Lombardi to the Leafs in exchange for disappointing defenseman Brett Lebda and a minor league forward wasn’t all he was up to.

Nashville signed former Devils/Thrashers/Panthers forward Niclas Bergfors to a one year deal worth $575,000. The cheap deal comes as a surprise as Bergfors is a guy with a lot of potential still. Upon breaking out with the Devils and Thrashers two seasons ago, Bergfors combined to score 21 goals and added 23 assists to show that he’s got some offensive skills after going to Atlanta in the Ilya Kovalchuk deal.

Last season in Atlanta and Florida, however, he hit hard times fighting for playing time in Atlanta before being sent to Florida in the Radek Dvorak deal. His combined stats with both teams last season were not too hot as he scored 12 goals and added 24 assists and scored just once for Florida.

In Nashville he’ll get a new start and with a team that should make him feel a bit more at home as the Preds play a more conservative system. Bergfors will get his chances to score on a team that lacks top offensive talent. That kind of opportunity for him may be just what he needs as the Preds will likely be successful again next year. With the price tag being so low, it’s a low-risk signing for Nashville. If he finds his offensive game again, it’s a major win for the Preds. If he doesn’t, the team isn’t crippled by his salary and they can find somewhere else to put him.

Low risk, high reward should be the Predators team slogan as it’s similar to how they took a chance on Sergei Kostitsyn last year. Kostitsyn rewarded the Predators by scoring 23 goals and 27 assists in helping the Predators to the playoffs. If Bergfors can do something remotely close to that, they’ll be ecstatic.