The Nashville Predators have been relatively quiet this off season but Tuesday they made a splash with the extension of defenseman Ryan Ellis to an eight-year deal.
Ellis was scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the 2018-19 NHL season.
The extension is worth a reported $50 million with a $6.25 million cap hit.
“Ryan is a huge part of our team on and off the ice and we are happy to have his leadership remain in our locker room for the foreseeable future,” Predators general manager David Poile said. “We have talked about wanting to keep the core of our team together, and this is another opportunity to help us do so while continuing to compete for a Stanley Cup. Ryan is entering his prime and is one of the reasons why we feel this team has a chance to win every time we step on the ice.”
This past season Ellis picked up nine goals and 23 assists in just 44 games.
Nashville now has their top four defensemen under contract for two more years. Ellis, Roman Josi, P.K. Subban, and Mattias Ekholm are now under contract at a cap hit of $19.25 million through the 18-19 season; the aggregate salary goes up to $23 million in 19-20.
The Preds have $7.6 million in cap space as reported by capfriendly.com.
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