Scratch another significant name from this summer’s list of potential unrestricted free agents.
The Nashville Predators have today re-signed winger J.P. Dumont to a four-year, $16 million contract extension, which will translate into a $4 million per season hit against their salary cap.
Dumont is currently the Predators second-leading scorer this season with 45 points, only one behind linemate and team leader Jason Arnott, but he’s been on fire since December 29th, averaging a point per game. He’s currently on pace for a career-best 71 points.
Since signing with the Predators in the summer of 2006 as an unrestricted free agent Dumont has proven to be a valuable addition to the club, one that GM David Poile in re-signing him today obviously didn’t wish to risk losing to free agency.
It also says something about Dumont in that he chose to pass over a significantly higher contract he surely would’ve received on this summer’s open market to remain with a Predators team that could be considered in the midst of a mini-rebuilding process.
He’s obviously happy in Nashville, meshing well with the team and playing the best hockey of his career (he had a 66-point performance in 82 games last season.
After dumping several prominent players during the 2007 off-season in cost-cutting moves Poile is now clearly focused on retaining his best players. There was concern as to whether or not the new Predators ownership would provide Poile with the necessary money to do so, but the Dumont signing is an obvious signal that the Predators won’t be dumping salaries again this year.
This also sends a positive signal to the Predators fan-base that, regardless of how the team fares in the standings this season, management’s focus this year is on retaining their best players.
With Dumont now re-signed, Poile’s focus will turn toward forward Martin Erat, defensemen Ryan Suter and Shea Weber and goaltender Dan Ellis, and the expectation should now be that all will be re-signed before this summer.
A smart move by David Poile. I think the siginings of Dumont and Tootoo will send the right messages to the other players on Nashville that they are still focused on winning the cup. Now if they can get the league to do us all a favor and move Detroit to the east, Nashville can focus on winning the division consistantly.
It is fitting that Dumont, who missed out on a 2.9 million arbitration award to sign for $2.25 with the Preds, got a meaningful contract. His past two seasons have been the best of his career. He is probably one of the top three players from his draft class.
Excellent point habync. I think that Nashville has a chance to get some good hometown press if they play their cards right, and that's excellent news for a team that didn't get a lot of rave reviews for giving the house away this past summer. They could end up essentially replacing the name talent with equal statistical commodities, no easy feat when you rewind several months ago. As for Dumont, good for him..he's always struck me as an inconsistent player but he's really getting the job done in Nashville.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
