Nashville Predators re-sign Ryan Johansen to eight-year deal

The Nashville Predators have re-signed 24-year-old center Ryan Johansen today. The contract is an eight-year deal worth $8 million per season, making Johansen the ninth highest paid center in the NHL.

The Nashville Predators have come to terms on an eight-year deal with 24-year-old centerman Ryan Johansen. The deal will see Johansen make an average of $8 million per season. This makes Johansen the ninth highest paid center in the NHL.

The 2016-17 season was the first full year in Nashville for Johansen. During his first 82-game season with the Predators he had 14 goals and 47 assists. He played in 42 games in 2015-16 for the Preds after being traded for defenseman Seth Jones.

Since his arrival in Nashville, he has proven to be a true number one center for his new organization. In 124 games he has 22 goals and 73 assists to his name. This goes along with the 7.24 Relative Corsi-For percentage that Johansen had last season, which was best on the entire Nashville roster.

Johansen hasn’t just been stellar for the Preds during the regular season, but in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well. In the 2015-16 playoffs he had four goals and for assists in 14 games. He topped that point total this past playoffs with three goals and 10 assists in as many games. Had it not been for the injury he sustained, he may have been able to push closer to 20 points in the playoffs.

Although Johansen had to miss the Stanley Cup Finals due to surgery, it is reported that he should be good to go for 2017-18. There have been no reports that this will be a recurring injury, giving no reason to be worried about the long-term commitment to Johansen.

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Even with the signing of Johansen taking up $8 million in cap space, the Nashville Predators are still left with $5.4 million in cap space with no remaining free agents in their organization.