Nashville Predators: Rocco Grimaldi deserves an extension

After an impressive 2018-19 season, the Nashville Predators should look to re-sign restricted free agent Rocco Grimaldi to a short-term deal.

There is no doubt that Rocco Grimaldi was arguably the best player for the Nashville Predators in the 2018-19 playoffs. But there is no reason why the Predators should sign him long-term.  In his 53 regular season games with the Reds, Grimaldi had only five goals and eight assists.

While he was a solid fourth line player for the Predators and contributed heavily in the playoffs by scoring three goals in five games, he has still not established himself as an NHL regular. With only 90 NHL games under his belt with three different teams, the 26-year-old forward has struggled to find a home or a role.

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At 5’6”, Grimaldi is the smallest player in the NHL and proves not to be a physical player or a grinder. Since he lacks a physical aspect to his game, he is stalemated at being an offensive contributor. Averaging .25 points per game, Grimaldi is slightly behind the league average of .30 points per game.

There is absolutely no doubt that the Predators should re-sign Grimaldi, but they should do so with caution. The Predators should qualify his RFA contract which would come out to be a one year, $715,000 contract (according to CapFriendly.com).

After a strong playoff performance many fans are wanting to lock Grimaldi up long term, but they must be patient. The Predators need to have one more trial year to observe Grimaldi to see his growth and to see if he can be consistent.

As of now, Grimaldi is putting up decent numbers, but he can easily be replaced by a productive AHL veteran such as a Cal O’Reilly or Chris Mueller who can be just as effective.

It will be an interesting offseason for the Predators as they must make moves to make themselves highly competitive, re-sign new acquisitions and find ways to open up the salary cap. After a decent 2018-19 season, it is highly likely that the Predators will re-sign Rocco Grimaldi, and if they do it should be to a short-term deal.