Nashville Predators and Ryan Ellis agree to an eight-year contract
The 2019 free agency class just lost a member, as the Nashville Predators and defenseman Ryan Ellis have agreed to an eight-year deal worth $50 million.
Superstars rarely make to NHL free agency. The best players often either stay with their teams for the best years of their career or wind up getting traded. This tradition has continued as the 2019 free agency class is just a year away. Earlier this summer, the Kings locked up Drew Doughty for eight years. Now the Nashville Predators and defenseman Ryan Ellis have agreed to an eight-year deal.
This deal is worth $50 million. Ellis will have an annual cap hit of $6.25 million. The extension will technically go into effect after the 2019-20 season, once his current deal is over. Ellis will be 28 when his new extension goes into effect.
How This Affects The Predators
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With this deal, the Predators have three of their top four defensemen signed long-term. P.K. Subban has four years left and Mattias Ekholm has three years left. Roman Josi has two years remaining and will be eligible to sign an extension after next season. Considering he’s their captain, expect the Predators to keep him around long-term as well.
This deal gives Nashville a bit of flexibility. They have some impressive blueline prospects, but obviously, not all of them are going to be NHL guys with the Predators. Perhaps the Preds are planning to use their surplus of young defensemen to trade for someone like Max Pacioretty.
Nashville’s strength has always been their blueline. The Nashville Predators are ensuring their talented group of defensemen will stick together. It’s an interesting strategy, but it’s hard to argue with the success they’ve had recently. With the rising price of defensemen, this is a pretty good price for Ellis.
How This Affects The 2019 Free Agency Class
The 2019 free agency class looks a lot weaker without Ellis. Of course, Erik Karlsson is still the best defensemen available and, unless he decides to take a discount, he’ll inevitably get a deal that gives him an annual cap hit of over $10 million.
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After him, though, it gets a bit dicey. Tyler Myers, Jake Gardiner, Nate Schmidt, and Anton Stralman round out the top five. While they are very good players, they aren’t as great as Ellis. This could cause teams to once again explore the trade market for blueline upgrades.