Jeremy Smith Signed
 

Today the Predators announced the signing of 2007 second-round pick G Jeremy Smith to an entry-level contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but I would assume it is a standard three-year deal.

http://predators.nhl.com/team/app/?s...ticleid=355951

I'm not sure about whether or not Smith will be old enough to play in the AHL next season, but if he is, look for him to split time with Mark Dekanich (who will sign as soon as his season with Colgate (ECAC) is over).

Good Deal! ... Mason/Rinne in Nashville next season ... Dekanich/Smith in Milwaukee ... nice

Uh, how about Ellis/Rinne in Nashville???

Smith has to play in Plymouth or Nashville next year, so he'll stay in Plymouth

Will Rinne really be in the NHL next year....well will Nashville have him on their roster.

Smith is an 89 and will be back in Plymouth next season, I would also suggest he maybe the starter on the US U-20 squad but probably the backup to Josh Unice

Yes, Pekka will be in Nashville next season as he has one-year remaining on his contract and is signed to a one-way deal only next season. Additionally, Rinne has demonstrated this year that he has nothing left to prove at the AHL level and is patiently awaiting his opportunity in Nashville.

So, will he be with Mason or Ellis? I'm not sure it's obvious that it's Mason.

Personally, I think we might see a package of Suter and Mason for a young forward and another veteran needing a change of scenery.

mason has one year left on his deal, ellis is an UFA after the season. since ellis has better numbers than mason, the math says mason will be here next year unless we sign ellis to a long term deal. barring that i say rhine backs up mason next year which is the most fiscal responsible option(which is what we will take).

Mason has two seasons remaining on his deal after this year. Rinne will definitely be in Nashville and I can only assume that Mason will be elsewhere...pending a taker (ie: why I packaged him with Suter).

The cost for Mason is too high and even if you threw in Suter, I don't think no one would jump on that.

i could have sworn we signed mason to a two year deal when we traded tomas, but perhaps i am mistaken.

you are correct on that. we extended mason 2 years after the trade. but he already had 1 year left on his previous contract.

Correct, all extentsions in the NHL start at the end of the previous contract. Mason still had a year left on his original deal (this season) and then signed a two-year extentsion which will start next year and run through the 09-10 season.

Which is why I'm essentially asking for salary back in a trade by adding "and a veteran also needing a change of scenery." Preferably we could take the salary reserved for Mason and move it to a forward position instead while calling up Rinne and either resigning Ellis or signing a veteran netminder to platoon.

I fully expect Mason will be ready to go next year after offseason surgery to stitch his 5 hole back together. This operation is known to have a better success rate than Sully's back surgery. The only drawback is some patients show clinical signs of a slowdown on wrap-around coverage but doctors have concluded that Mason already is so slow the effects should not be capable of being detected.

I think next year we will see Mason and Rinne in Nashville next year. I seriously doubt any team takes a chance on Mason given the year that he has had and his contract. He's a huge risk for a team to take on and we would not be getting anywhere near a good value for him.

Rinne has been slowly developed and will hopefully get a chance to work himself into Nashville next season. Mason will likely have another chance to get his position back. The risk of course, is that if Mason falters, do you throw Rinne into the fire?

As for Ellis, he probably has a good chance of getting a nice offer from a team this offseason. His risk of course, is that he pulls a Mason if he becomes a starter somewhere. Of course, his options for a starting position are low.

As for the thread's main topic, Smith appears to be a great prospect, who hopefully will be developed properly.

So painful and so true