Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros has two years left on his contract, and other National Hockey League (NHL) teams hoping to sign him via the free-agent market in 2025 risk being disappointed .
Since his debut on the Bettman circuit, the Preds’ fourth-round pick in the 2013 draft has been rock solid. He has consistently maintained an efficiency rating of .914 or better throughout a season, earning 38 wins in 2021-2022 and 33 more wins the following season. The organization recognized his potential by giving him a four-year, $20 million contract in August 2021, and at 28 years old, he has several good campaigns under his belt on paper.
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General Manager Barry Despite also knows full well that it is in his interest to extend the Saros agreement as soon as it can be implemented, i.e. the competition.
“I have already made contact [l’agent du portier] Kevin App and his group to get their opinion on the negotiations, the CEO told The Athletic. I think he is a special goalkeeper. He obviously created his own legend. We are blessed to have had some great performances on the net in Nashville. It started with Tomas Vokoun. Then there was Pekka Rinne and let’s hope it’s Juuse in the future.”
A wall
Despite is well positioned to bring up former goalkeepers Vokoun and Rinne, whom he coached as head coach. And Saros has followed in their footsteps and become one of the best in its industry. Last year, he took an NHL-high 2,099 shots but had a 2.69 goals-against average and .919 save percentage. On the other hand, he failed to lead his team into the playoffs.
In Nashville, Andrew Brunette took over for John Hynes behind the bench and will rely on Saros to get the Predators back to the playoffs. The club experienced the affront of exclusion for the first time since 2013/2014.