Fansided

Nashville Predators re-sign Ryan Ellis

By Catherine Silverman

Apr 5, 2014; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks center Andrew Desjardins (10) skates with the puck as Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis (4) defends during the first period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 5, 2014; San Jose, CA, USA; San Jose Sharks center Andrew Desjardins (10) skates with the puck as Nashville Predators defenseman Ryan Ellis (4) defends during the first period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports /
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One down, six to go.

This afternoon, the Nashville Predators GM David Poile announced that the franchise has come to terms on a contract with restricted free agent Ryan Ellis, who was one of the league’s few remaining contract-less RFA’s.

Ellis was second on the Predators last year in both the number of games he played and his +/- rating, with 80 appearances and a +9. He also chipped in on the offense last year, bringing in six goals and twenty-one assists to be the third highest scoring defenseman on the Central Division team.

For a team that is in the midst of a dubious rebuild, re-signing players that had met with some success on the struggling team last season is going to be key moving forward.

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    • While the details of Ellis’ contract won’t be made public until the blue liner arrives in Nashville on Friday, we can only guess that it’s going to be higher than his previous salary, which saw an $840,000 cap hit each of the three years the contract spanned.

    The Predators, who shocked hockey fans by taking a chance on Arizona Coyotes reject forward Mike Ribeiro and James “Mr. Attitude” Neal, are poised to have either a breakout season, or look like the next incarnation of the all-over-the-place Edmonton Oilers.

    Now that Ellis has been signed, all eyes are on the teams who still have yet to sign their star RFA’s- including both the Boston Bruins (Torey Krug, D; Reilly Smith, RW) and the Dallas Stars (Cody Eakin, C; Brenden Dillon, D). As the season looms closer, expect to see more of these contracts finally being negotiated.

    **UPDATE: According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the contract is worth $12.5 million, and is for 5 years**

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