Nashville Predators
Ryan O’Reilly Signs 4-year Deal With Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators inked Stanley Cup veteran Ryan O’Reilly to a four-year contract as part of their new team transition.
One of the biggest names on the 2023 Free Agent market has officially signed with the Nashville Predators on a four-year, $18 million deal.
O’Reilly had an interesting season as he had seven points in 40 games with the St. Louis Blues before ultimately getting traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in February. Granted, he had a broken foot that landed him on the injured reserve, which led to his point decline, but the Blues and former captain O’Reilly seemed ready to move on, regardless, as the Blues were quickly faltering and GM Doug Armstrong was looking to re-tool on the fly.
When getting to Toronto, the 32-year-old center became more consistent with 7 points in 13 games, even though he also missed time due to injury. During the playoffs, he was the fifth-best scorer on the team, netting 9 points in 11 games, in a second- and third-line center role. After the Maple Leafs got eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, he talked fondly about his time with his hometown team. However, re-signing him always seemed like a long-shot due to salary cap constraints. The team had a projected $5 million in salary cap space, and after re-signing forward David Kampf to a four-year, $9.6 million deal and signing forward Ryan Reaves to a 3-year, $4.04 million deal, O’Reilly testing free agency seemed like the only path to take, and one he seemed open to from the beginning.
Now, he is joining a Predators team going through a transition with general manager Barry Trotz departing with star players like Matt Duchene and Ryan Johansen. O’Reilly will be a leader there and help set the new tone and culture of a team that needs a new voice to return to being competitive in the Central Division. Plus, considering he loves music and playing the guitar, “Music City” in Nashville also seems like a good fit on a personal level.
Next: Hurricanes Re-Sign Goaltender Antti Raanta to One-Year Extension
