The Nashville Predators made a splash when free agency opened Monday by signing Stanley Cup champion forwards Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault in a series of $100 million-plus trades that made Smashville the center of attention on a record-breaking billion-dollar NHL day.
Stamkos left Tampa Bay after 16 seasons, two Cup titles and two more trips to the Finals to sign a four-year, $32 million contract with Nashville.
“I never thought a day like this would happen, but it did,” Stamkos said. “It was a really hard thing to swallow when I started to realize this wasn’t going to work out in Tampa.”
Stamkos reached out to the Predators, made his decision and got a call from Marchessault asking if he was signing with them, too, fearing it would be one or the other. “He said, ‘No stuttering, I’m coming too,’” Stamkos recalled.
Marchessault got $27.5 million for the next five seasons in less than 13 months win playoff MVP Both players will have company: Defenseman Brady Skjei signed with Nashville for seven years and $49 million, and Scott Wedgewood signed for $3 million for two years to backstop Vegas. Franchise goalkeeper Juuse Saros.
Managing Director Barry Trotz called it “an important day for the future of our organization.” The Predators, at $111.5 million, became the first team to surpass $100 million in free agency commitments since the Florida Panthers began building toward the championship they won last week.
“It’s huge because it’s a statement, I think, to the rest of the league,” Trotz said. “These guys see what we do with our franchise. We have a lot to offer and we’re very committed to winning. We’re committed to that.”
Marchessault was an original member of the Golden Knights’ expansion team in 2017 and helped them reach the Finals twice and win the Stanley Cup last year. He just scored a career-high 42 goals and, like Stamkos, was one of the most recognizable faces on his team.
Big-ticket transactions
On the first day of free agency, teams committed a record $1.12 billion in contracts, while more than 100 players changed teams. That amount, the most ever spent in a single day of free agency, according to CapFriendly, is a direct result of the salary cap jumping to $88 million per team, the first significant increase since before the pandemic.
“A lot of money,” Toronto general manager Brad Treliving said. “There were some really good players available. We saw teams get aggressive and a lot of players move.”
Jake Guentzel signed a seven-year, $63 million contract with Tampa Bay after they acquired his rights Caroline’s over the weekend, choosing to pay him big money at age 30 rather than Stamkos at age 34.
“Things didn’t work out at Carolina, and then I heard Tampa might trade my rights, so obviously I was really excited because everyone hears how good this team is and what a great place it is,” said Guentzel, who will count $9 million against the salary cap through 2031. “The pedigree behind Tampa Bay, the winning culture — just a lot of high-level players that make it really intriguing to come to Tampa.”
— Fresh off Florida’s Stanley Cup triumph, defenseman Brandon Montour signed a seven-year, $50 million contract with Seattle, and the Kraken signed former Golden Knights center and 2023 champion Chandler Stephenson for $43.75 million over the same period. The Panthers’ exodus included Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Anthony Stolarz to Toronto, Ryan Lomberg to Calgary and Kevin Stenlund to Utah.
— Vancouver signed former Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk to a seven-year, $38.5 million deal.
— Boston signed center Elias Lindholm to a seven-year, $54.25 million contract and gave defenseman Nikita Zadorov $30 million over the next six seasons.
— New Jersey continued to build a playoff-worthy team, signing a pair of defensemen, Brett Pesce to six years, $33 million and Brenden Dillon to three years, $12 million, and forward Stefan Noesen to three years, $8.25 million.
— San Jose signed forwards Tyler Toffoli to $24 million over four years and Alexander Wennberg to two years and $10 million.
— Toronto signed defenseman Chris Tanev to a six-year, $27 million contract after acquiring his rights from Dallas.
— The Stars retained Matt Duchene for another season for $3 million and also signed defensemen Ilya Lyubushkin for $9.75 million over three years and Matt Dumba for $7.5 million over two years.
— Los Angeles signed former Oilers winger Warren Foegele to a three-year, $10.5 million deal and gave rugged defenseman Joel Edmundson four years and $15.4 million.
— Columbus signed center Sean Monahan to a five-year, $27.5 million contract.
Make it go back
— Hours after a rainy rally celebrating their Stanley Cup title, the Panthers beat the midnight buzzer to re-sign Sam Reinhart to a eight-year contract worth $69 millionan annual salary cap hit of $8.625 million for a player coming off a 57-goal regular season.
— Jordan Martinook re-signed with the Hurricanes on a three-year, $9.15 million contract.
— Edmonton, which lost to the Panthers in seven games in the Stanley Cup Final, re-signed depth forwards Corey Perry and Connor Brown for next season. Perry, the only player in NHL history to reach the Final with five different organizations, received $1.4 million including incentives, while Brown, who was named the NHL’s top receiver, was named the NHL’s top receiver. had a goal and an assist During the seven-game series against Florida, Foegele signed for $1 million. The Oilers replaced Foegele with Viktor Arvidsson, giving him $8 million over two years, and also added Jeff Skinner on a one-year, $3 million contract.
Busy teams
Chicago and Washington were among the busiest teams.
The Blackhawks have signed forwards Tyler Bertuzzi (four years, $22 million), Teuvo Teravainen (three years, $16.2 million), Craig Smith (one year, $1 million), defenseman Alec Martinez (one year, $4 million) and goaltender Laurent Brossoit (two years, $6.6 million).
The Capitals, Beyond exchange for Jakob Chychruncontinued its roster overhaul by signing defenseman Matt Roy to a six-year, $34.5 million contract and forwards Brandon Duhaime (two years, $3.7 million) and Taylor Raddysh (one year, $1 million).
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AP freelance writers Jim Diamond and Denis Gorman contributed to this report.
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