Last week, an ESPN report claimed the Predators started contract negotiations with veteran centers Mike Ribeiro and Mike Fisher.
This week, Fisher expressed his desire to stick in Nashville.
“I love the city and I love the guys here in the organization,” he explained, per The Tennessean. “It’s been great. Hopefully the business part of things will take care of itself, but I definitely want to be part of it for sure.”
One would think Nashville feels the same way. Fisher, 34, is in the last of a two-year, $8.4 million deal with a $4.2 million cap hit. Though he’s only played 33 games this year due to a ruptured Achilles, Fisher has been great — he’s scored 13 goals and 25 points while averaging 18:23 TOI per night.
(What’s more, Fisher is averaging .76 points per game, the highest total of his 16-year career.)
In terms of their financial future, the Preds should be able to make Fisher a reasonable offer. A hometown discount is definitely on the table -- in addition to spending the last five years in Nashville, Fisher’s wife, musician Carrie Underwood, is hugely popular in the city -- though it’s worth pointing out the team does have a ton of free agents to deal with this summer.
In addition to Ribeiro and Fisher, the likes of Matt Cullen, Colin Wilson, Craig Smith, Calle Jarnkrok, Olli Jokinen, Gabriel Bourque, Anton Volchenkov and Taylor Beck are all due for new contracts, though it’s safe to assume veterans like Volchenkov, Cullen and Jokinen could be allowed to walk.
The big question with Fisher, it seems, is if he’ll be able to score enough money from Nashville as he would on the open market, where the center position projects to be thin.