You can scratch Filip Forsberg’s name off of your free agency wish list.
The Nashville Predators announced on Saturday morning that they have agreed to terms on an eight-year contract with the pending unrestricted free agent, to keep him with the team through the 2029-30 season.
Financial terms of the deal were not released, but it is reportedly worth a total of $68 million. That comes out to a salary cap number of $8.5 million per season.
Originally a first-round draft pick by the Washington Capitals back in 2012, the Predators acquired Forsberg from the Washington Capitals in a deadline trade for veteran forward Martin Erat that has turned out to be an extremely lopsided deal in Nashville’s favor. Since joining the team Forsberg has been one of the best and most productive players in franchise history and developed into one of the better all-around wingers in the league.
[Related: Free agency tracker: Full list of 2022 offseason signings]
In 566 career regular season games he has scored 220 goals, 249 assists, and 269 total points. Those numbers average out to about 30 goals and 30 assists per 82 games.
He is coming off of a monster 2021-22 season that saw him score 42 goals (with 42 assists) in only 69 games. The 42 goals are the second-most in franchise history, just one behind the 43 goals scored by Matt Duchene during the same season. Forsberg and Duchene are the first 40-goal scorers in franchise history.
There would have been no good reason for the Predators to not get this deal done. Forsberg is their best forward, still at an age where he should be very productive for several years, and the team had more than enough salary cap space to get him signed. Even after inking this deal with Forsberg, and acquiring Ryan McDonagh from the Tampa Bay Lightning, the team still has almost $10 million in salary cap space this offseason with no other major contracts that need to be signed.
Even if Forsberg does not score 40 goals again and returns to being a 30-goal scorer for the foreseeable future, it is still a strong contract given his overall play and impact. He could have almost certainly signed for more on the open market in unrestricted free agency.
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Adam Gretz is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @AGretz.