Ryan Johansen just hit the lotto.
Friday, the 24-year-old first-line center signed an eight-year, $64 million contract with the Nashville Predators that will keep the Canadian in Music City through the 2024-25 season. The Predators are coming off their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Final in franchise history.
“I really feel in these next eight years, we’re going to do really well,” Predators general manager David Poile said. “And when we do really well, Ryan Johansen is going to be a big, big factor in all of our winning.”
Ryan Johansen: prefers to pass more than you might expect but otherwise has mostly top-line results. pic.twitter.com/jYURzFBop8
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) July 28, 2017
Johansen will fetch an annual average value of $8 million per season, which, according to CapFriendly, ties him for eighth among NHL centers next season. In terms of dollars and term, it’s the longest and richest contract the Predators have ever offered a player. Shea Weber’s 14-year, $110 million contract is excluded because the Preds matched an offer sheet from the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Predators, who have a young, talented core, now have their entire first-line signed through their primes.
The Tennessean’s Adam Vingan has more.
He, Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson merged to form what arguably was the NHL’s most fearsome forward line. They combined for 180 points and controlled 58.9 percent of total shot attempts when on the ice together, according to datarink.com. That percentage was the league’s highest among 10 lines that played at least 600 minutes.
All three players are under contract for at least the next five seasons. Arvidsson, 24, signed a seven-year, $29.75 million contract July 22, and Forsberg, who turns 23 next month, is in the second year of a six-year, $36 million contract.
“There’s no better place to be right now,” Johansen said. “As we were going through the process, that’s what it was all about from the start. The class that they’ve shown with myself and committing and trusting me and believing in me for these next eight years is just so humbling.”
Johansen did not play in the Stanley Cup Final due to a dangerous thigh injury he suffered in the Western Conference Final. Johansen as hospitalized and had to have emergency surgery after being diagnosed with acute compartment syndrome.
Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile announced Friday that the Predators have signed center Ryan Johansen to an eight-year, $64 million contract that will pay him an average of $8 million annually through the 2024-25 season.
Johansen, 24 (7/31/92), co-led the Predators in scoring during the 2016-17 campaign with 61 points while appearing in all 82 games, recording 14 goals and 47 assists. His 47 assists during the most recent campaign set a career high. The 6-foot-3, 218-pound native of Vancouver, British Columbia then added three goals and 13 points in 14 games during Nashville’s postseason run before being sidelined in the Western Conference Final due to injury.
Johansen also set a career high in the face-off circle in 2016-17, winning 54.55 percent of his draws during the regular season before taking 54.28 of his faceoffs in the playoffs.
Acquired by the Predators on Jan. 6, 2016 from Columbus, Johansen has appeared in 124 regular-season games with Nashville, tallying 22 goals, 73 assists and 95 points during that span. Johansen has also amassed seven goals, 14 assists and 21 points in 28 postseason contests with Nashville. Johansen has appeared in all 82 games in three of the last four seasons, has totaled 60 or more points in four consecutive seasons, and at least 45 assists in each of the last three campaigns.
Johansen appeared in the 2015 All-Star Game and set a career-high 71 points during the 2014-15 season. The fourth overall selection in the 2010 Entry Draft, Johansen earned a silver medal and a spot on the tournament all-star team at the 2011 World Junior Championship after posting nine points (3g-6a) in seven games, and was a 2011 WHL First Team All-Star after recording 92 points (40g-52a) in 63 regular-season WHL games, and a league-best 28 points (13g-15a) in 21 postseason contests in his second and final campaign with the Portland Winterhawks.
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